THE  BOOK  OF  JOB, 

WITH  NOTES, 

CRITICAL,  EXPLANATORY  AND  PRACTICAL, 

DESIGNED  FOR   BOTH  PASTORS  AND  PEOPLE. 

5l2ait1^  a  iaelu  Cranslation  appcntict. 


REV.  HENKY  COWLES,  D.  D. 


'  Understandest  thou  what  thou  rcadcst  ?  And  he  said,  How  can  I  except  some 
man  should  guide  me  ?"— Acts  viii  :  30,  31. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY, 

5W  &  551  BROADWAY. 

1877. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

REV.  HENRY  COVVLES, 
in  the  Office  of  tlie  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 


TnPvOUGn  all  the  ages  this  book  of  Job  has  been  dear  to 
the  most  gifted  minds  and  to  the  noblest  hearts.  Its  high 
antiquity,  antedating  all  other  books  extant ;  its  poetry,  un- 
surpassed in  beauty  and  sublimity ;  its  appeal  to  man's  deep- 
est sympathies  through  its  recital  of  sufferings  so  keen  yet  so 
mysterious ;  and  the  ever-living  interest  which  human  bosoms 
must  feel  in  its  great  problems — all  these  elements  conspire 
to  give  this  book  imperishable  interest.  Of  course  these 
features  of  the  book  avail  to  justify  any  worthy  effort  to 
throw  light  upon  its  historic  questions,  interpret  its  language, 
bring  out  its  moral  purposes,  and  so  place  its  great  moral 
lessons  within  easy  grasp. 

This  grouping  of  aims  will  suffice  to  indicate  the  points  to 
which  my  labors  have  been  si^ecially  directed.  I  have  sought 
to  locate  the  book  in  chronology  and  history ;  to  throw  light 
on  the  question  of  its  authorship;  to  show  how  the  leading 
minds  of  that  early  age  struggled  and  stumbled  over  the 
great  problem  of  the  sufferings  of  apparently  good  men,  and 
how  the  Lord  himself  brought  this  great  problem  to  issue  in 
what  we  must  regard  as  the  ultimate  and  supreme  moral  pur- 
pose of  the  book. 

Quite  aside  from  my  method  in  previous  volumes,  I  have 
appended  to  this  a  new  translation,  hoping  in  this  concise 
form  to  give  the  reader  a  general  view  of  the  drift  of  thought 
and  of  the  beauty  of  style  which  appear  in  the  original. 
For  many  nicer  shades  of  meaning  and  for  a  more  full  pre- 
sentation of  the  argument  and  its  bearings,  the  reader  must 

Cm) 


IV  PREFACE. 

be  referred  to  the  Notes. Our  received  English  version 

of  Job,  while  in  many  passages  it  is  most  admirable,  is  in 
some,  sadly  imperfect. 

With  this  small  volume  on  Job,  the  author's  work  on  the 
Old  Testament  is  completed.  The  foregoing  historic  books 
in  two  volumes ;  the  subsequent  poetic  books  in  two ;  and  the 
prophetic  in  four — fill  out  this  portion  of  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures.-  Under  a  sense  of  manifold  imperfections,  alleviated 

only  by  the  consciousness  of  honest  purpose  and  earnest  en- 
deavor, the  author  brings  this  long  labor  to  its  close,  hopeful 
subordinately  that  it  may  find  favor  with  many  who  love  the 
Sacred  Word,  but  chiefly  and  supremely  that  it  may  be  ac- 
cepted of  Him  whose  love  and  wisdom  have  given  us  these 
ancient  and  priceless  treasures. 

Obeklin,  Ohio. 
July,  1877. 


CONTENTS. 


The  co7iclusion,  which  is  a  Supplement  to  this  Commentary, 
treats  of  the  following  points : 
I.  The  true  doctrine  as  to  the  inspired  authority  of  the 

speeches  in  this  book, 227 

"Authority"  applied  to  the  views  expressed  by  Job  as 

to  the  under-world, 231 

II.  Progress  of  doctrine  on  the  great  problems  of  the  book,     235 
III.  Sundry  incidental  points : 

1.  One  of  the  possible  reasons  for  God's  permission 

of  suffering  upon  good  men,      ....     242 

2.  The  mischiefs  of  the  doctrine  of  suffering  as  held 

by  Job's  friends 245 

3.  On  Job's  faith  in  his  Kedeemer,          .        .        .     246 
New  Translation, 249 


IISTTEODUOTIO^. 


ITS  NATURAL  DIVISIONS. 


Tins  remarkable  l)ook,  bearing  the  name  of  Job,  is  quite 
unique  in  character,  unlike  any  other  book  of  the  Bible, 
being  neither  history  nor  prophecy ;  neither  songs  of  devotion 
nor  maxims  of  wisdom ;  neither  memoirs  of  Christ,  nor  apos- 
tolic letters  to  the  churches, — a  book  therefore  which  has  no 
analogy  with  any  other  one  embraced  in  our  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures. Its  manifestly  high  antiquity  and  its  magnificent 
poetry,  coupled  with  the  profound  and  rational  interest  always 
felt  in  the  great  questions  of  God's  moral  government — the 
problems  of  this  book — combine  to  bring  it  very  near  the 
hearts  of  thoughtful  men  of  all  generations  and  to  commend 
it  to  most  careful  attention  and  thorough  study. 

As  helpful  to  such  study,  I  propose  by  way  of  introduction 
to  treat : 

I.  Of  its  natural  divisio7is ; 

II.  Of  its  historic  basis ; 

III.  Of  the  country  aiul  age  of  its  historic  events ; 

IV.  Of  its  author  and  of  the  admission  of  the  book  into 
the  Hebrew  sacred  canon ; 

V.  Of  the  work  done  by  the  author ; 

VI.  Of  its  moral  design  and  purpose. 

I.  Of  the  natural  divisions  of  the  book.  Of  these,  there 
are  five : — (1)  An  introduction  (chap.  1  and  2)  which  gives 
a  brief  personal  history  of  Job ;  his  family ;  residence ; 
position  in  society,  great  wealth  and  exemplary  piety.  Next 
occurs  a  remarkable  conversation  between  the  Lord  and 
Satan  concerning  Job's  piety — which  resulted  in  the  Lord's 
giving  Satan  permission  to  put  Job  to  the  test  under  most 

(I) 


2  INTRODUCTION. HISTORIC  BASIS. 

severe  affliction.  Then  follows  a  detailed  account  of  calam- 
ities falling  on  Job,  which  stripped  him  of  his  property,  bereft 
him  of  his  children,  tormented  him  with  painful  and  loath- 
gome  disease,  and  apparently  left  nothing  to  him  but  a  suffer- 
ing existence. 

(2)  Next,  three  friends  come  to  visit  him  who  hold  and 
represent  the  doctrine  that  all  suffering  in  this  life  is  punitive, 
retributive ;  that  the  good  or  evil  sent  of  God  upon  men  is 
in  point  of  justice  perfect  according  to  their  good  or  ill 
deserts,  and  consequently  by  inevitable  inference,  that  great 
sufferers  have  been  great  sinners.  These  friends  are,  there- 
fore, very  sure  that  Job,  despite  of  the  strongest  professions 
and  fairest  appearances  of  piety,  is  a  great  hypocrite,  whose 
hypocrisy  God  is  exposing,  and  whom,  as  friends  of  God  and 
of  Job  also,  they  are  bound  to  expose ;  to  convict  him  of  his 
sin  and  bring  him  if  possible  to  repentance.  We  have  their 
successive  speeches  and  Job's  replies  in  the  second  division 
of  the  book  (chap.  3-31.) 

(3)  Another  disputant  appears,  a  young  man  Elihu,  who 
gives  his  opinion  of  the  case,  mainly  reviewing  the  words 
and  spirit  of  Job — in  six  chapters  (32-37.) 

(4)  Next  the  Almighty  himself  appears  ;  addresses  Job  at 
considerable  length  ;  whereupon  Job  humbles  himself  deeply 
before  the  Lord  ;  is  forgiven  and  restored.  The  Lord  also 
passes  his  judgment  upon  Job's  three  friends,  etc.  (chap.  38- 
42  :  1-6). 

(5)  The  conclusion  records  the  issue  as  to  Job's  three 
friends  and  his  own  subsequent  prosperity  (42  :  7-17). 

11.  Some  critics  have  denied  all  histoi'ic  basis  to  this  book, 
claiming  that  what  purports  to  be  historic  fact  is  wholly  the 
author's  fiction — purely  ideal  and  never  actual.  They  justify 
the  author  in  representing  the  persons  in  his  dialogue  as  his- 
toric men,  on  the  ground  that  this  course  naturally  heightens 

the  reader's  interest  in  the  discussions. The  critics  referred 

to  rest  their  position  on  two  grounds : — (a)  The  alleged  im- 
probability that  such  a  series  of  fearful  calamities  should  fall 
in  so  rapid  succession  upon  one  man :  (b)  That  the  part 
borne  by  Satan  has  far  more  the  air  of  fancy  than  of  fact. 
How,  it  is  asked,  can  the  things  affirmed  of  Satan  be  sup- 
posed to  have  been  real ;  and  even  if  they  had  been,  how 
could  the  writer  know  what  transpired  in  that  meeting  of 
"  the  sons  of  God"  into  which  Satan  obtruded  himself? 

Reserving  the  case  of  Satan  for  future  consideration,  in 
order  to  discuss  first  the  more  vital  question  as  to  Job,  I  am 


INTRODUCTION. — HISTORIC    BASIS.  3 

4 

iuduced  to  regard  liim  as  a  real  character,  a  veritable  his- 
toric personage  by  the  following  considerations : 

1.  The  points  of  Job's  case  are  given  with  very  great 
minuteness  as  those  of  a  real  history. 

2.  The  agencies  Avhich  brought  upon  him  his  afflictions 
and  all  the  points  set  forth  as  history,  correspond  with  the 
well  known  circumstances  of  that  country  and  age — e.  g.,  his 
great  wealth  in  cattle,  the  usage  of  birth-day  festivals  among 
married  sons  and  daughters ;  the  predatory  incursions  of 
Sabeans  and  Chaldeans ;  the  terrific  destructiveness  of  light- 
nings and  tornadoes ;  and  the  jilague  of  leprosy  with  which 
Job  was  smitten. 

3.  Subsequent  sacred  writers  speak  of  Job  as  a  real,  not  a 
fictitious  person;  e.  g.,  Ezekiel  in  chap.  14:  14-20,  and 
James  in  chap.  5:11.  In  Ezekiel  the  words  are  those  of  the 
Lord  himself:  "Though  these  three  men"  (all  equally  as- 
sumed to  be  real  men)  "  Noah,  Daniel  and  Job,  were  in  it, 
they  should  deliver  but  their  own  souls  by  their  righteous- 
ness." These  men  are  adduced  as  notable  examples  of  pre- 
vailing prayer  in  behalf  of  others,  and  perhaps  of  that  ex- 
emplary righteousness,  because  of  which  God  spares  the 
guilty  as  he  would  have  spared  Sodom  if  a  few  such  men  had 
been  in  it.     This  assumes  that  they  "svere  real,  not  fictitious 

men. We  must  make  the  same  inference  from  the  words 

of  James :  "  Ye  have  heard  of  the  patience  of  Job,  and  have 
seen  the  end  of  the  Lord ;  that  the  Lord  is  very  pitiful  and 
of  tender  mercy." 

4.  In  the  progressive  development  of  literature,  the  age 
of  Job  and  of  his  author  also,  was  far  too  early  for  works  of 
fiction.  The  earliest  wi'itings  were  genealogical,  soon  shading 
oflT  more  or  less  into  historical.  These  forms  of  literature 
met  man's  earliest  and  most  urgent  demands.  Fiction  be- 
longs exclusively  to  a  far  later  age.  This  doctrine  is  on  the 
one  hand  inferable  from  the  laws  of  mind,  and  on  the  other, 
is  sustained  by  the  facts  of  history.  In  the  progress  of  lit- 
erary culture,  poetry  came  early,  but  fiction  late — never  until 
authorship  became  an  art. 

No  argument  in  favor  of  regarding  the  story  of  Job  as 
fiction  can  be  drawn  from  the  parables  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, for  these  differ  Avidely  from  the  apparent  facts  in  the 
history  of  Job.  The  points  made  in  the  parables  do  not 
purport  to  be  real  history.  They  are  simply  supposed  cases, 
set  forth  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  illustrating  great  truths 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 


a  INTEODUCTION. — HISTOEIC   BASIS. 

• 

Turning  now  to  the  objections  made  to  the  historical  char- 
acter of  the  book,  I  grant  that  the  quick  succession  of  such 
fearful  calamities  upon  one  man  is  extraordinary — but  it  is 
not  impossible,  and  therefore  not  incredible.  The  history 
represents  it  as  extraordinary — a  very  special  case — and 
gives  the  special  reason,  viz. :  a  point  at  issue  between  God 
and  Satan,  and  a  special  permission  given  of  God  to  this 
great  "accuser  of  the  brethren"  to  try  his  hand  in  testing 

the  question  of  Job's  unselfish  piety. Now  if  there  be  a 

devil  (as  the  Scriptures  every-where  assume)  ;  if  he  has 
certain  powers  over  the  human  mind  and  the  physical  world 
which  he  can  wield  with  God's  permission;  if  he  has  a  cer- 
tain range  for  his  activities  in  this  sinning  world;  if  more- 
over he  hates  all  righteousness  and  dreads  its  influence,  and 
therefore  loves  to  traduce  the  reputation  of  all  good  men  so 
that  his  devilish  spirit  makes  him  naturally  an  "accuser  of 
the  brethren"; — then  there  is  nothing  incredible — nothing 
even  improbable  in  the  statements  made  here  as  veritable 
history. 

It  deserves  to  be  specially  noted  that  Satan's  character  and 
work  as  put  here  are  in  fullest  accord  with  the  numerous 
allusions  made  to  him  throughout  the  Scriptures.  He  is  the 
same  "old  serpent,  called  the  Devil  and  Satan,  who  deceiveth 
the  whole  world" ;  whom  John  of  Patmos  saw  in  vision,  and 
Avith  an  eye  on  these  chapters  of  Job,  calls  * '  the  accuser 
of  our  brethren,  who  accused  them  befoi'e  God  day  and 
night"  (Rev.  12:  9,  10);  the  same  "old  serpent"  who  entered 
Eden  and  there  began  his  work  of  deception  and  lies ;  whom 
Jesus  describes  as  a  murderer  from  the  beginning  (John  8 : 
44);  and  styles  "the  prince  of  this  world"  (John  12:  31); 
and  of  whom  he  said  to  Peter — "Satan  hath  desired  to  have 
thee  that  he  may  sift  thee  as  Avheat" — (even  as  he  sifted 
Job);  whom  Peter  knows  as  "your  adversary  the  devil"; 
a  "roaring  lion,  Avalking  about  seeking  whom  he  may  de- 
vour" (1  Peter  5:8);  and  whom  Paul  knotvs  as  "the  god 
of  this  -world,  blinding  the  minds  of  them  that  believe  not" 
(2  Cor.  4:  4);  as  "the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the 
spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience  "  (Eph. 
2  :  2).  Nor  can  it  be  said  with  any  force  that  the  age  of  Job 
was  too  early  in  the  progress  of  religious  thought  for  such  views 
of  Satan,  for,  early  as  I  admit  the  age  of  Job  to  have  been, 
Eden  was  yet  earlier,  and  its  traditions,  if  not  even  its  written 
history,  may  be  plausibly  assumed  to  have  gone  abroad  over 
the  East  ere  this  time. Moreover,  if  it  be  still  objected 


INTRODUCTION. — COCJXTRY    AND    AGE.  5 

that  Satan's  appearing  among  "  the  sons  of  God"  is  quite  too 
strange  for  fact,  it  may  ])e  re})lied  that  we  know  but  little  yet 
of  the  spiritual  worhl  which  lies  outside  the  range  of  our 
bodily  senses ;  and  further  still,  that  other  cases  of  analogous 
sort  appear  in  Bible  history,  as  the  reader  may  see  in  ] 
Kings  22:  19-23,  and  Zech.  3:  1,  2. 

Finally,  if  the  point  be  pressed — How  could  the  writer 
of  this  book  know  what  transpired  at  this  meeting  of  Satan 
among  "  the  sons  of  God"  and  especially  the  ensuing  conver- 
sation between  Satan  and  the  Lord?  it  scarcely  need  be  said 
that  he  does  not  claim  to  have  been  present  as  a  Avitness. 
Our  alternative,  therefore,  is — inspiration,  or  mere  drapery, 
a  costume  suggested  by  fancy  to  represent  truthful  relations. 
Those  who  admit  inspii-ation  at  all  in  the  writing  of  Scrip- 
ture will  have  not  the  least  difficulty  in  assuming  insjiiratiun 
here.  And  if  Ave  may  suppose  the  writer  familiar*  Avith  the 
record  of  the  scenes  in  Eden,  Ave  shall  not  look  for  any  start- 
ling surprise  in  his  mind  upon  learning  that  Satan  is  equal  to 
such  impudence  toAvard  God  and  such  malignity  against  good 
men  as  these  revelations  of  that  conversation  imply. 

This  group  of  facts  and  considerations  seem  to  me  to  justify 
the  doctrine  of  a  real  historic  basis  for  this  Book  of  Job. 

HI.   The  country  and  age  of  these  historic  events: 

The  country  is  definitely  named — "the  land  of  Uz" 
(1 :  1).  The  precise  location  and  boundaries  of  this  land 
are  in  dispute ;  but  all  agree  to  locate  it  in  Arabia,  north  and 
east  of  Edom,  eastAvard  of  the  old  kingdoms  of  Moab  and 
Ammon;  but  how  far  east  tOAvard  the  Euphrates  is  the 
special  point  of  disagreement  among  the  best  geographical 
authorities.  Beyond  all  doubt  it  Avas  the  land  early  and 
long  held  by  the  descendants  of  Abraham  other  than  the 
children   of    the    coA'enant    through   Isaac ; — viz :    through 

Ishmael,  Keturah,  and  Esau. It  should  be  suggested  that 

all  the  allusions  of  the  book  to  the  external  world — to 
climate  and  atmospheric  agencies;  to  productions,  animals, 
modes  of  living,  customs  of  society,  etc.,  etc.,  are  in  keeping 
Avith.  this  country  and  Avith  these  populations. 

As  to  the  age — the  time-period — of  these  historic  events, 
our  data  enable  us  to  approximate  it  sufficiently  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes;  Avhile  yet  Ave  must  fail  of  entire  precision. 
We  test  it  by  the  great  longevity  of  the  patriarch,  in  appl}'- 
ing  Avhich  to  the  diminishing  scale  of  the  average  human 
life,  we  ought  perhaps  to  make  some  alloAvance  for  an  old  age 
exceptionally  long  and  prosperous.  '  In  approximating  Job's 


6  INTRODUCTION.— THE   AUTHOR. 

entire  age,  the  first  period,  prior  to  the  scenes  of  this  book, 
is  a  matter  of  estimate.  We  may  assign  at  least  fifty  years 
for  raising  a  fixmily  of  ten  children  (apparently  of  one 
mother).  To  this  Ave  add  one  hundred  and  forty  (42  :  16) 
for  the  second  stage  subsequent  to  his  great  affliction,  making 
one  hundred  and  ninety — which  classes  him  with  Abraham, 
175  (Gen.  25:  7),  and  Isaac,  180  (Gen.  85:  28). 

Another  element  of  calculation  comes  in  with  the  force  of 
considerable  probability  from  the  supposed  identification 
of  some  of  the  various  parties  whose  names  appear  in  this 
history.  We  have  "Eliphaz"  whose  name  is  given  as  the 
son  of  Esau  (Gen.  36:  4,  10);  "  Bildad  the  Shuhite ", 
Avhose  appellation,  "the  Shuhite,"  may  connect  him  with 
Shuah,  the  sixth  son  of  Abraham  by  Keturah  (Gen.  25:  2)  ; 
also  "  Elihu  the  Buzite" — whose  family  designation  may  in- 
dicate him  as  descended  from  "  Buz",  a  son  of  Nahor  (Gen. 

22 :  21),  and  so,  a  nephew  of  Abraham. These  friends 

were  contemporary  with  the  early  stage  of  Job's  life. 

If  this  identification  be  reliable  we  must  place  Job  as  late  as 
the  age  of  Jacob  and  Joseph.  This  may  be  regarded  as  our 
nearest  approximation,  and  is  suflBciently  near  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  time-period  of  Job's  life 
by  no  means  determines  the  date  of  the  book — the  time  when 
it  was  written.  The  historic  facts  may  have  remained  un- 
written through  one  or  more  generations.  This  great  dis- 
cussion, set  forth  with  the  rich  embellishments  of  oriental 
poetry,  may  have  waited,  we  know  not  how  many  years,  for 
a  writer  to  arise  competent  to  produce  and  disposed  to  at- 
tempt such  a  work.  The  date  of  the  author  is  therefore  an 
independent  question  which  naturally  comes  uj)  next  for  our 
consideration. 

IV.  The  author  of  Job  ami  its  admmion  into  the  canon  of 
Hebrew  Scriptures. 

My  reasons  for  grouping  these  two  points  under  this  one 
general  head  will  appear  presently. 

The  elements  of  this  problem  of  authorship  may  be  ar- 
ranged thus : 

1.  Gapahillty.  The  number  of  men  since  the  world  began 
capal)le  of  writing  the  Book  of  Job,  has  been  by  no  means  • 
large;  the  number  of  such  men  within  the  period  in  which 
this  book  must  have  been  written  was  very  small  indeed. 
The  writer  of  this  book  was  certainly  a  man  of  the  highest 
order  of  mental  and  literary  ability — one  of  a  class  which  in 


INTRODUCTION. — THE   AUTHOR.  7 

the  history  of  our  world  has  been  exceedingly  small  in  the 
most  favored  ages,  while  many  an  age  has  failed  of  its  single 
man  upon  this  exalted  level.* This  point  should  be  al- 
lowed more  weight  than  is  currently  accorded  to  it.  It  bears 
with  great  force  against  the  favorite  theory  of  many  modern 
critics,  that  this  author  was  some  "great  unhiown,"  living  in 
Israel  between  Samuel  and  Jeremiah.  This  theory  encounters 
in  the  outset  one  stubborn  improbability,  viz. :  that  a  man 
of  such  powers  could  be  unhicnvn.  A  "great  unknown"  is 
essentially  a  solecism — a  proposition  whose  absurdity  is  self- 
demonstrated.  The  world  always  has  work  for  such  men, 
and  their  works  can  not  be  hid.  They  are  too  few  to  be 
spared  from  the  world's  highest  necessities — too  great  to  be 
unknown.  The  theory  is  sometimes  convenient  to  help  out 
a  foregone  conclusion — convenient  because  it  seems  not  easily 
refuted.  If  these  critics  would  name  their  man — David, 
Solomon,  Nathan,  Asaph; — then  we  might  have  means  of 
sifting,  testing,  disproving,  the  theory ;  carrying  our  search 
into  the  known  qualities  of  these  supposed  candidates,  and  so 
exploding  each  distinctly  proposed  hypothesis. My  in- 
ference from  these  considerations  is  that  if  the  author  of  Job 
were  a  Hebrew,  one  of  the  race  of  Israel,  living  among  his 
own  people,  we  must  find  him  among  the  known  and  not  the 
unknoivn  names  of  their  history. 

At  this  stage  of  our  inquiry,  it  will  be  helpful  for  many 
reasons  to  advance  a  definite  theory  as  to  the  name  of  the 
author.     It  will  help  to  illustrate  our  points  of  evidence  and 

*  Froude  speaks  of  Job  as  a  "  book  of  which  it  is  to  say  little  to 
call  it  unequaled  of  its  kind,  and  which  will  one  day,  perhaps,  when 
it  is  allowed  to  stand  on  its  own  merits,  be  seen  towering  up  alone, 
far  away  above  all  the  poetry  of  the  world."  ("  Short  Studies  on 
Great  Subjects,"  p.  231.) 

Carlyle  (On  Heroes,  p.  45)  says: — "Apart  from  all  theories  about 
it,  I  call  the  Book  of  Job  one  of  the  grandest  things  ever  written 
with  pen.  One  feels,  indeed,  as  if  it  were  not  Hebrew ;  such  a  noble 
universality,  diiferent  from  noble  patriotism  or  sectarianism,  reigns 
in  it.  A  noble  book :  all  men's  book  !  It  is  our  first,  oldest  state- 
ment of  the  never-ending  problem — Man's  destiny,  and  God's  wAys 
with  him  here  in  this  earth.  And  all  in  such  free-flowing  outlines; 
grand  in  its  sincerity,  in  its  simplicity;  its  epic  melody  and  repot^e 
of  reconcilement." 

"  Such  living  likenesses  were  never  since  drawn.  Sublime  sorrow, 
sublime  reconciliation,  oldest  choral  melody  as  of  the  heart  of  man- 
kind ; — so  soft  and  great ;  as  the  summer  midnight,  as  the  world  with 
its  seas  and  stars!  There  is  nothing  written,  I  think,  in  the  Bible 
or  out  of  it,  of  equal  literary  merit." 


8  INTRODUCTION. — THE    AUTHOR. 

may  thus  conduce  toward  a  reliable  conclusion.  It  ought  of 
course  to  be  understood  that  a  theory  proposed  as  to  the 
name  of  the  author  is  not  of  itself  proof.  It  is  only  a  sup- 
position— to  be  confirmed  or  not  confirmed  as  the  points  of 
real  proof  may  bear  upon  him.  Let  it  then  be  supposed  that 
the  author  was  Moses. 

Moses  was  equal  to  the  authorship  of  this  book.  No  com- 
petent critic  has  ever  questioned  his  ability  to  write  the  Book 
of  Job.  The  man  Avho  was  skilled  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
Egypt ;  who  enjoyed  through  forty  years  the  training 
of  the  reputed  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ;  at  the  court 
of  the  most  cultured  nation  of  the  ancient  world  ;  the  man 
who  could  write  that  glorious  triumphal  song  (Ex.  15  :  1-19) 
over  Pharaoh's  hosts  gone  down  as  a  stone  into  the  Red  Sea 
Avaters ;  or  those  words  of  sublimest  poetic  power  which  fill 
two  chapters  in  his  Deuteronomy  (32  and  33),  the  closing 
paragraph  of  which  (33 :  26-29)  has  scarcely  its  equal  in  all 
human  literature  for  beauty,  sublimity  and  grandeur — this 
man  it  is  safe  enough  on  the  score  of  original  talent  or  ac- 
quired culture,  to  name  as  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Job. 

2.  The  language  and  style  of  the  book  sujiply  another 

element  bearing  upon  this  problem  of  authorship. The 

critics  versed  in  questions  of  this  nature  concur  in  general  if 
not  even  universally  that  the  Book  of  Job  is  written  in  pure 
Hebrew,  and  that  it  certainly  does  not  belong  to  the  later 
but  to  the  earlier  age  of  Hebrew  literature.  My  own  read- 
ing of  the  book  has  impressed  me  with  these  two  peculiari- 
ties:— (a)  The  large  number  (relatively  to  other  extant 
Hebrew)  of  rare  words  (the  "  apax  legomeua"  of  the  critics) ; 
and  (b)  The  frequent  occurrence  of  words  upon  which  im- 
portant light  is  thrown  from  the  corresponding  words  in 
Arabic — a  cognate  language.  The  latter  point  favors  the 
supposition  that  the  book  was  written  in  Arabia,  or  at  least, 
by  one  familiar  Avith  the  HebrcAV  as  then  spoken  in  their 

country. 1  scarcely  need  say  that  these  points  favor  the 

theory  that  Moses  Avas  the  author. 

3.  Still  other  elements  for  this  problem  of  authorship  lie 
in  his  allusions  to  the  country,  and  to  Avhatever  in  it  is  present 
to  his  eye,  or  indeed  open  by  any  means  to  his  knoAvledge. 
It  is  simply  inevitable  that  a  Avriter  should  draw  his  illustra- 
tions— also  his  Avords  and  phrases — from  things  known,  and 
not  from  things  imknoAvn.  Thus  his  AA'ork  will  show  Avith  a 
fair  measure  of  certainty  ivJiere  he  lived  and  Avhat  his  sur- 
roundings Avere.     We  shall  better  appreciate  the  nature  and 


INTRODUCTION. — THE    AUTHOR.  9 

force  of  this  class  of  facts  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  every 
author  writes  for  somebody  to  read — commonly  for  the  peo- 
ple among  whom  he  lives. 

Now  this  book  shows  on  every  page  a  thorough  familiarity 
with  north-eastern  Arabia,  and  to  nearly  an  equal  extent,  with 
Egypt  We  find  here  Arabian  life  in  every  point — people 
living  in  tents,  with  property  in  cattle  only.  We  have  here 
largely  the  animals  of  the  desert ;  also  the  climate,  the  storms, 
and  the  diseases  of  that  country.  The  only  form  of  idolatry 
referred  to  is  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  this  was 
"  a  crime  to  be  punished  by  the  judges" — indicating  a  period  of 

very  high  antiquity. Of  the  author's  references  to  points 

known  to  be  Egyptian,  we  may  specify — the  light  vessels  of 
papyrus  (9 :  26)  ;  the  Nile  grass,  under  its  well-known  Egyptian 
name  (8  :  11) ;  the  Nile-horse  or  hippopotamus  (40  :  15-24)  ; 
the  crocodile  (leviathan)  (41 :  1-34) ;  the  usages  of  civil  courts 
(9  :  14-16,  32,  33  and  13 :  18,  19,  22  and  14 :  15)  particu- 
larly, indictments  in  writing  (13 :  26  and  31 :  35)  and  per- 
haps the  use  of  advocates  at  law  (9 :  33-35  )  ;  a  whole 
chapter  on  mining  (28 :)  for  which  we  must  find  the  basis 
in  Egypt  or  Arabia — certainly  not  in  Palestine. This  en- 
umeration is  very  incomplete,  to  be  taken  merely  as  a  speci- 
men. A  complete  list  would  quote  a  great  part  of  the  allu- 
sions of  this  class  in  the  book. The  reader  will  note  par- 
ticularly that  while  the  scenes  and  circumstances  of  the  book 
are  located  in  Arabia,  making  it  substantially  certain  that 
the  author  lived  there  and  wrote  this  book  there,  it  is  yet 
about  equally  certain  that  he  had  lived  in  Egypt.  His  entire 
familiarity  with  Egyptian  life  and  surroundings  leave  no 
reasonable  doubt  on  this  point.  You  can  not  find  that  he 
has  lived  in  Canaan,  in  Syria,  or  on  the  Euphrates — much 
less  still,  in  any  more  remote  countries  of  Asia,  Africa  or 

Eiurope. Now  obviously,  when  we  have  narrowed  down 

our  problem  to  some  one  man  who  has  lived  in  Egypt  and  in 
Arabia,  writing  his  book  in  the  latter  country,  it  is  plain  that 
we  must  be  about  ready  for  the  positive  inference  that  the 
author  was  Moses. 

4.  There  is  a  negative  side  to  this  argument,  viz.,  in  the 
points  NOT  alluded  to.  Here  the  one  comprehensive  fact  is 
the  entire  absence  of  whatever  is  properly  of  Palestine — the  land 
of  Canaan,  The  author  of  Job  makes  no  allusion  to  a  thing — 
none  to  a  single  object  in  nature — which  is  peculiar  to 
Canaan  as  distinct  from  Arabia  and  Egypt — if  we  except  the 
river  Jordan  (40 :  23)  which  as  a  rapid  torrent  in  its  flood 


10  INTEODUCTION. — THE   AUTHOR. 

season  Avas  the  only  illustration  accessible  for  either  of  these 
three  countries — Egypt,  Arabia  or  Canaan,  and  therefore  is 
not  distinctively  Palestinian.  Passing  this,  we  find  in  Job 
no  allusion  to  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  none  to  the  oaks  of 
Bashan,  nor  to  the  palm-tree,  the  pomegranate,  the  olive ; 
none  to  the  vale  of  Sharon,  nor  to  the  beauty  of  Carmel. 
The  threshing-floor  and  the  wine-press  appear  abundantly  in 
the  poetry  of  Canaan  ;  but  with  only  a  single  exception — a 
rather  obscure  notice — of  each  (40  :  30  and  24:  11)  are  not 
here. 

Let  it  be  considered  that  every  poet  depends  on  his  out- 
ward world  for  the  materials  of  his  imagery.  In  this  outer 
world  he  lives,  sees,  feels,  and  develops  his  imagination. 
Hence  his  allusions  to  nature  are  an  index  to  the  country  he 
lives  in — an  index  which  determines  his  locality  with  a  sort 
of  proof  little  short  of  demonstration.  Any  reader  Avith  or- 
dinary habits  of  attention  Avill  see  the  fact  of  which  I  speak 
if  he  Avill  compare  the  book  of  Job  with  the  Psalms,  or  Avith 
Proverbs,  or  the  Song  of  Solomon,  or  with  Isaiah,  Hosea  or 
Amos.  Such  comparison  will  bring  him  at  once  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  writer  of  Job  did  not  live  in  the  same  country 
with  David  and  Asaph,  with  Solomon  and  Isaiah,  with  Hosea 
and  Amos.  He  Avill  be  forced  to  this  conclusion  by  the  evi- 
dence coming  from  this  one  point  of  comparison,  viz.,  their 
respective  allusions  to  the  external  Avorld  as  the  source  of 
poetic  imagery  and  illustration. 

But  there  are  other  points  of  comparison.  Every  writer 
of  the  land  of  Canaan  after  Joshua  shows  in  his  writings  that 
he  knoAVS  of  the  Mosaic  law  ;  knows  the  scenes  of  the  Exodus, 
of  the  wilderness,  of  the  planting  of  his  people  in  the  goodly 
land  of  promise.  His  religious  ideas  take  their  type — not 
mainly  from  the  fields  of  nature — the  great  Avorks  of  God  in 
the  material  universe ;  but  largely  from  the  history  of  his  own 
people  and  from  the  system  of  Avorship  God  had  given  them. 

Over  against  this,  the  author  of  Job  moves  and  thinks 

in  the  sphere  of  natural  religion  almost  exclusively.  Tradi- 
tionally, he  knows  of  the  creation  and  the  flood ;  there  is  no 
evidence  that  he  then  had  the  written  records  of  those  events. 
Sacrifices  and  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies  appear  in 
his  book ;  but  sacrifices  in  their  general  form  Avere  every-where 
in  those  early  ages  and  Avere  not  confined  by  any  means  to 
the  people  of  Israel.  In  their  more  minute  Mosaic  forms — 
stated  festivals,  an  organized  priesthood;  tithes  and  most 
diversified  oflTerings — they  appear  every-where  in  the  poetry 


INTRODUCTION. — THE   AUTHOR,  11 

of  Canaan,  but  are  not  found  in  Job. Is  it  replied  to  this 

that  a  writer  of  Palestine  in  the  period  between  Saul  and  the 
exile,  having  laid  his  plot  in  Arabia,  would  study  to  make  all 
the  points  in  his  drama  correspond  to  the  assumed  locality  of 
his  actors,  and  so  would  avoid  all  allusions  to  what  was  dis- 
tinctively Palestinian  ? The  answer  is — (a)  That  such  an 

luidertaking  is  immensely  difficult ;  so  difficult  that  it  is 
doubtful  whether  it  has  ever  been  successfully  accomplished  ; 
and  (b)  That  the  supposition  of  such  a  purpose  is  utterly  at 
war  with  the  honesty  and  simplicity  of  the  inspired  oracles. 
That  a  prophet  of  God,  living  in  the  land  of  Israel  should 
labor  in  this  way  to  ignore  his  own  home  and  country,  and 
write  a  book  as  if  he  tvere  of  Arabia,  and  were  adapting  his 
book  primarily  for  Arabian  readers,  is  too  revolting,  too  un- 
natural, too  utterly  improbable,  to  be  accepted.  No  critic 
could  look  with  favor  upon  such  an  assumption  unless  he  were 
hard  pushed  to  find  support  for  a  foregone  conclusion.  The 
idea  of  a  Hebrew  prophet  in  Palestine  getting  up  a  debate  on 
the  deep  questions  of  divine  providence,  and  clothing  it  with 
poetic  attractions  for  the  purpose  of  alluring  readers  in  Arabia 

or  Edom,  is  most  preposterous. If,  on  the  other  hand,  he 

wrote  for  his  countrymen,  how  could  he  utterly  ignore  his 
nation's  history,  his  nation's  religion  and  worship?  How 
could  he  be  dumb  in  the  presence  of  Baal-worship  ;  the 
burning  of  sons  and  daughters  in  homage  of  the  gods  of 
Moab  and  Amnion  ;  the  awful  apostasies  of  his  people  into 
gross  idolatry,  while  he  had  words  of  condemnation  for  kisses 
thrown  by  the  hand  to  the  sun  and  the  moon  (31  :  26-28)  ? 
Is  it  in  any  wise  credible  that  a  good  and  true  prophet  of 
Jehovah — one  capable  of  writing  the  book  of  Job — should  be 
so  utterly  oblivious  to  every  thing  that  made  up  the  surround- 
ing present  of  his  life,  and  for  no  obvious  cause  should  throw 
himself  into  an  ideal  present  in  Arabia  to  produce  such  a 
book,  supposably  to  send  on  a  mission  into  the  unknown  East  ?  * 
The  reader  will  see  that  we  have  made  important  progress 
toward  the  solution  of  our  problem  if  we  have  substantially 
settled  this — that  he  was  not  at  home  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 
This  rules  out  the  current  theory  of  some  "  Great  Unknown  " 

*  Froude  recognizes  some  of  the  points  above  put,  though  he  sug- 
gests no  hypothesis  to  account  for  them  : — in  these  words :  "  Unjew- 
ish  in  form  and  in  fiercest  hostility  with  Judaism,  it  hovers  like  a 
meteor  over  the  Old  Hebrew  literature,  in  it,  but  not  of  it,  compell- 
ing the  acknowledgment  of  itself  by  its  own  internal  majesty,  yet 
exerting  no  influence  over  the  minds  of  the  people,"  etc.,  (page  238.) 


12  INTRODUCTION. — THE   AUTHOR. 

living  in  Israel  after  Samuel  and  before  Jeremiah.  We  must 
find  him  elsewhere. 

The  conditions  under  consideration  here  are  fully  met  in 
Moses.  After  forty  years  of  education,  training,  culture  in 
the  court  of  Pharaoh,  Ave  have  his  next  forty  years  in  this 
very  land  of  Arabia.  We  know  that  a  mind  of  such  powers 
and  of  such  culture  will  thinh.  Among  the  renowned  sages 
of  Edom  and  of  the  great  east  country,  there  were  some  other 
minds  of  thought  and  culture,  contact  with  whom  would  beget 
acquaintance ;  mutual  sympathy  and  a  common  interest  would 
develop  discussion.  It  need  not  surprise  us  that  such  minds 
should  be  keenly  alive  to  the  great  problems  of  God's  provi- 
dence and  moral  government  over  men.  It  is  by  no  means 
incredible  that  the  human  mind  began  to  grapple  with  those 
problems  at  a  very  early  age  of  the  world.    Occasions  adapted 

to  excite  inquiry  were  sure  to  arise. If  our  chronological 

data  approximate  the  truth.  Job  may  have  been  still  living 
■when  Moses  was  passing  his  forty  years  of  shepherd  life  in 
that  land.  .  At  least  he  could  not  have  been  long  deceased, 
and  his  history  must  have  been  still  fresh  in  tradition,  if  not 
even  in  the  memory  of  surviving  friends.  Whether  Moses 
found  any  thing  in  writing,  and  if  any  thing,  how  much; — 
whether  in  substance  only  or  in  full  form  as  it  now  appears, 
can  never  be  known  with  absolute  certainty.  It  is  safe 
enough  to  say  that  Moses  might  have  been  the  author.  All  the 
qualities  of  authorship  apparent  in  the  book  are  in  fullest 
accord  with  the  known  talents  and  ti-aining  of  Moses,  and 
with  the  five  books  which  certainly  came  from  his  hand. — 
Moreover,  not  only  such  qualities  of  authorship  as  lie  in  the 
line  of  mental  gifts  and  culture,  imagination  and  poetic 
power,  but  also  the  knoivledge — the  points  of  truth  pertaining 
to  this  subject  which  appear  in  his  book,  become  important 
testimony  on  the  question  whether  he  can  have  been  the 

author. Under  this  head,  let  me  call  special  attention  to 

two  points : — 

(a)  Knowledge  of  a  promised  Messiah : 

(b)  Conceptions  respecting  the  work  and  manner  of  the 
world's  creation. 

(a)  We  shall  see  that  a  fair  construction  of  Job's  words 
(19:  25-27)  involves  some  knowledge  of  the  early  promise 
of  a  Redeemer  to  come  upon  the  earth.  Did  Moses  know 
any  thing  of  this  promised  Redeemer  before  he  went  into  the 
land  of  Midian  ?  The  writer  to  the  Hebrews  answers  this 
question  for  us,  showing  that  Moses  not  only  knew  of  that 


INTEODUCTION. — THE   AUTHOR.  13 

promise  but  had  felt  its  power  upon  his  heart  and  life;  for 
under  that  power  he  "  chose  suffering  affliction  with  the  peo- 
ple of  God  before  the  momentary  pleasures  of  sin,  esteeming 
reproach  for  Christ  greater  riches  than  all  the  treasures  of 
Egypt."  (Heb.  11 :  24-27).  Now  we  can  not  know  defin- 
itely how  far  the  thoughts  and  the  words  ascribed  to  Job 
may  have  had  their  birth  in  the  mind  of  the  author ;  but  we 
know  that  Moses  had  experienced  the  sublime  moral  power 
of  that  primal  promise  of  a  Messiah,  and  was  competent, 
therefore,  to  put  this  element  of  conquering  faith  into  the 
experience  of  the  great  sufferer. 

(b)  Conceptions  in  regard  to  the  work  and  the  manner  of 
the  creation  appear  esi^ecially  in  the  address  of  the  Lord  (38 :) 
This  passage  gives  prominence  to  the  gathering  of  the  earth's 
waters ;  enwrapping  them  in  swathing  bands  of  cloud  and 
darkness ;  assigning  to  them  their  bounds  that  they  come 
not  up  u])on  the  dry  land  any  more;  causing  the  rain-fall, 
etc.,  etc. 

The  careful  reader  of  this  chapter  will  be  struck  with  the 
close  resemblance  of  these  conceptions  with  those  which  he 
finds  in  Gen.  1  and  2.  If  these  conceptions  (Job  38  :)  and 
the  words  that  clothe  them  are  due  in  any  measure  to  the 
author  of  the  book,  we  readily  think  of  Moses  as  the  author 
also  of  Genesis,  and  shall  not  wonder  that  the  same  concep- 
tions of  creation  and  the  same  phraseology  should  obtain 
here  in  Job  and  there  in  Genesis.  If  it  be  said  that  with 
great  probability,  Moses  in  making  up  the  first  chapters  of 
Genesis,  compiled  from  very  ancient  written  documents,  I 
reply: — Nothing  forbids  that  those  documents  may  have 
been  among  the  chosen  people  in  Egypt  and  brought  to  his 
eye  while  yet  under  a  pious  mother's  religious  training  there. 

5.  A  fifth  j)oint  of  some  importance  for  its  bearing  upon 
the  author  and  age  of  this  book  lies  in  its  time-relations  to 
other  books  of   the  Hebrew  Scriptures  as  indicated  by  its 

reference  to  them  or  their  reference  to  it. We  find  in  Job 

no  allusion  to  any  part  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  as  then  in 
existence.  Its  author  knew  the  great  facts  of  the  creation 
and  of  the  flood ;  but  whether  from  the  written  records  as 
they  come  to  us  in  Genesis,  or  from  tradition,  can  never  be 
determined.  We  find  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  had  read 
any  other  portion  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  three  friends 
could  not  have  read  the  story  of  Joseph — a  good  man,  yet 
suffering  sorely  despite  of  his  innocence — and  indeed  because 
of  it,  yet  rising  through  his  very  sufferings  to  the  noblest 


14  INTRODUCTION. — THE    AUTHOE. 

dignity  of  character  and  the  highest  rank  in  social  life  and 
political  power.  As  already  noted,  neither  the  author  nor 
his  disputants  seem  to  know  any  thing  of  the  deliverance  of 
the  chosen  people  from  Egyptian  bondage,  nor  of  their 
triumph  at  the  Red  Sea,  or  their  life  in  the  wilderness ; 
nothing  of  Sinai,  or  of  the  laws  civil  and  religious  given 
through  Moses,  nor  of  the  entrance  into  Canaan.  It  would 
seem  to  be  a  legitimate  inference  from  these  facts  that  the 
Book  of  Job  must  have  been  written  before  the  Book  of 
Exodus  and  even  before  its  great  events  occurred. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  later  Hebrew  books  refer  to  the 
Book  of  Job  in  a  way  to  attest  its  prior  existence.  The 
allusion  to  Job  in  Ezekiel  (14 :  14-20)  shows  that  it  was  ex- 
tant then.  Jeremiah  cursing  the  day  of  his  birth  (20: 
14-18)  may  be  assumed  to  be  in  imitation  of  Job  3.  Strong 
resemblances  to  passages  in  Job  occur  in  later  books,  but  no 
great  reliance  can  be  placed  in  any  argument  built  on  mere 
resemblance. 

6.  There  is  yet  another  source  of  argument  bearing  upon 
the  question  of  authorship  which  should  receive  attention  and 
have  weight,  viz. :  Its  admission  into  the  canon  of  Hebrew 
Scriptures.  Long  as  there  has  been  any  Hebrew  canon,  this 
Book  of  Job  has  been  one  of  the  number.  All  the  authori- 
ties Avhich  define  that  canon  certify  that  Job  belongs  in  it. 
Hoiv  came  it  there  f 

All  those  books  were  written  by  men  accredited  among 
the  Hebrew  people  as  "prophets".  None  other  was  ever 
admitted  into  their  canon.  Whatever  notions  as  to  inspira- 
tion may  have  prevailed  among  other  people  in  any  age 
of  the  world,  they  believed  in  genuine  inspiration.  They 
knew  that  they  had  among  themselves  from  time  to  time 
men  who  were  taught  of  God.  The  teachings  of  these 
heaven-taught  men  were  entirely  decisive  and  severely 
stringent  against  accepting  any  other  writings  as  sacred  and 
of  divine  authority  except  those  of  known  prophets.  Tlie 
Jewish  nation  in  all  ages  (Josephus  being  witness)  held  this 
doctrine  tenaciously,  ready  to  seal  it  with  their  blood,  that 
holy  men  of  God  had  given  them  certain  writings,  and  that 
not  a  written  word  might  be  admitted  into  the  sacred  collec- 
tion except  those  which  came  certainly  and  undeniably  from 
the  pen  and  the  tongues  of  these  prophets  of  God.  This  is 
his  language:  "From  the  death  of  Moses  to  that  of  Artax- 
erxes,  the  propliets  y^ho  have  followed  Moses  have  described 
the  things  which  were  done  during  the  age  of  each  one  re- 


INTRODUCTION. — THE    AUTHOR.  15 

spectively,  in  thirteen  books".  "From  the  time  of  Artax- 
erxes  until  our  present  period  (after  the  Christian  era)  all 
occurrences  have  been  written  down,  but  they  are  not 
regarded  as  entitled  to  the  like  credit  with  those  which  pre- 
cede, because  there  was  no  certain  succession  of  'prophets", 

"  In  all  Jews  it  is  implanted  even  from  their  birth  to  regard 
our  sacred  books  as  being  the  instructions  of  God,  and  to 
abide  steadfastly  by  tliem,  and  if  it  be  necessary,  to  die 
gladly  for  them". 

It  is  therefore  settled  that  the  author  of  Job  must  have 
been  a  known,  accredited  j^rojihet  of  God.  Hence  in  point 
of  birth,  nationality  and  religion,  he  was  not  an  Arabian  nor 
an  Egyptian.  This  book  never  came  into  Palestine,  com- 
mending itself  for  reception  among  the  accredited  oracles 
of  God  on  the  ground  that  it  represented  the  poetry,  the 
learning,  the  theology  or  the  wisdom  of  either  Arabia  or 
Egypt.  There  was  no  point  in  the  Hebrew  history,  say  be- 
tween Samuel  and  the  exile,  when  the  relations,  of  Israel  to 
either  Arabia  or  Egypt  were  such  that  Israel  and  her 
prophets  and  priests  could  have  looked  to  either  Arabia  or 
Egypt  for  a  book  inspired  of  God,  or  could  have  received 
one  so  written.     The  supposition  is  simply  incredible. 

Yet  as  we  have  seen,  the  internal  evidence  of  the  book 
shows  that  it  was  not  ivritten  by  a  residoit  of  Canaan,  but 
must  have  been  written  by  a  man  perfectly  familiar  Avith 
Arabia — familiar  with  it  moreover  from  personal  observa- 
tion ;  familiar  also  wdth  Egypt. 

From  these  facts,  my  conclusion  is  that  one  man  known  to 
history,  meets  all  these  conditiom,  and  only  one,  viz.  :  Moses. 
He  was  pre-eminently  a  prophet  of  God.  His  name  and 
prestige  as  the  author  of  Job  were  amply  sufficient  to  secure 
for  it  the  readiest  possible  reception  into  the  Hebrew  canon.* 
He  had  lived  in  Arabia  forty  years,  yet  Avas  not  of  Arabia ; 
had  lived  in  Egypt  also  forty  years ;  yet  was  never  by  birth, 
nationality  or  religion,  an  Egyptian. 

A  word  is  due  here  as  to  the  sense  in  which  I  speak  of 
Moses  as  the  author  of  Job.     I  leave   undecided  the  ques- 

*Froude  overcomes  the  acknowledged  difficulty  of  getting  such 
a  book  into  the  Hebrew  canon  by  assuming  its  admission  very  early : 
— "  How  it  found  its  way  into  the  canon,  smiting  as  it  does  through 
and  tlirough  the  most  deeply  seated  Jewish  prejudices,  is  the  chief 
difficulty  about  it  now — to  be  explained  only  by  a  traditional  ac- 
ceptance among  the  sacred  books,  dating  back  from  the  old  times  of 
the  national  greatness  ",  etc.     (p.  231.) 


16     INTEODUCTION. — WOEK  DONE  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

lion  whether  he  learned  the  facts  of  its  history  from  oral 
tradition,  personal  contact  with  the  original  actors,  or 
from  Avritten  documents.  Nor  is  it  imjioi'tant  here  to 
decide  how  much  the  points  of  argument  or  the  phraseology 
of  the  reported  discussions  may  owe  to  his  shaping  hand. 
But,  on  the  positive  side,  in  naming  Moses  as  the  author 
of  this  book,  I  make  him  responsible  at  least  for  editing, 
perhaps  for  writing,  and  certainly  for  bringing  the  book  to 
the  people  of  Israel  and  placing  it  in  their  sacred  canon. 
Its  inspiration  rests  on  his  known  character  as  a  prophet  of 
God. 

7.  Still  another  consideration  sustaining  the  very  early 
writing  of  this  book  rests  upon  its  relation  to  p^'ogress  of  doc- 
trine on  the  points  discussed.  This  "progress"  will  demand 
our  attention  in  the  sequel.  At  this  point  the  result  may 
be  so  far  anticipated  as  to  say  that  the  doctrines  held  by  the 
three  friends  were  probably  the  earliest  human  opinions  on 
the  great  problem  of  suffering,  and  therefore  indicate  the 
very  early  age  of  the  book. 

V.  We    pass   to  a  kindred   topic — the  worh  done   by  the 

author. Here  I  do  not  inquire  ivho  put  into  written  form 

these  discussions^the  parts  assigned  respectively  to  Eliphaz 
and  his  associates ;  to  Job ;  to  Elihu ;  and  to  the  Lord ;  but 
I  raise  the  question  whether  he  reported  their  speeches  ver- 
batim, or  only  for  siihstance  of  thought,  giving  those  thoughts 
their  poetic  form  and  dress  with  his  own  hand,  allowing  free 
scope  to  his  own  literary  taste  and  skill  in  setting  forth  their 
views.    This  question  has  only  a  secondary  importance;  hence 

a  very  brief  notice  of  it  must  suffice. The  earlier  critics 

who  wrote  on  this  book  held  mostly  the  former  view  ;  all  the 
more  modern  hold  the  latter,  induced  thereto  by  these  con- 
siderations, mainly — (a)  That  the  tone  of  high  and  well 
sustained  literary  culture  and  finish,  coupled  with  poetic 
genius,  forbids  the  supposition  of  an  ex  tempore  discussion, 
reported  verbatim.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  for  men  to 
speak  offhand  in  such  style  as  ajopears  throughout  these  dis- 
cussions.  (b)  The  literary  style  is  one  and  not  many — 

indicating  the  work  of  one  mind,  and  not  of  several.  If 
each  one  of  the  six  speakers  had  been  precisely  reported,  it 
is  simply  impossible  that  there  should  not  have  been  more 
diversity  in  literary  merit  and  finish  than  is  apparent  here. 

VI.  The  moral  design  and  purpose  of  the  book  is  a  point 
of  supreme  importance.     It  is  vital  to  the  value  of  the  book 


INTRODUCTION. — MORAL   DESIGN   AND    PURPOSE.    17 

to  US  that  we  apprehend  this  point  definitely,  clearly,  and 
justly. The  book  omits  to  state  explicitly  its  own  moral  de- 
sign, but  leaves  us  to  infer  it  from  its  contents.  We  must 
reach  it  mainly 'l)y  inquiries  in  this  line: — What  were  m/«d 
the  vital  points  raised  in  this  discussion  and  how  were  they 
ultimately  decided  ? 

It  is  almost  too  obvious  to  need  remark  (yet  it  has  been  often 
overlooked)  that  the  very  highest  importance  must  attach  to 
the  final  decision  given  by  the  Lord  himself.  Surely  if  the  Al- 
mighty came  down  to  speak  as  the  umpire  in  this  discussion, 
his  speech  will  give  us  the  really  great  and  vital  issues.  The 
supreme  moral  purpose,  high  above  all  subordinate  purposes, 
will  come  to  view  in  his  decision. 

It  Avill  be  useful  to  make  and  to  carry  out  a, distinction  be- 
tween the  main  and  the  subordinate  purposes  embraced  in 
the  design  of  the  book.  The  main  purpose  Avill  appear  in 
the  final  decision  by  the  Almighty  taken  in  connection  with  the  his- 
toric facts  which  gave  occasion  to  the  discatssion.  The  subordi- 
nate purposes  are  evolved  from  the  body  of  the  discussion 
between  the  several  parties. 

The  great  theme  of  debate  is — the  design  of  God  in  sending 
(or  permitting)  suffering  upon  men  (especially  good  men)  in  this 

world. This  general  theme  involves  subordinate  questions  : 

—  Why  does  He  permit?  Is  it  for  punishment,  real  retribu- 
tion ;  or  for  discipline  and  correction  in  his  goodness  and 
wisdom?  Is  it  administered  ahvays  xvith  justice — to  each 
according  to  his  deserts  relatively  to  the  deserts  of  other 
men, — or  (a  different  sui^position)  relatively  to  the  demands 
of  the  law  which  sin  breaks  ?  These  subordinate  questions 
were  the  staple  points  discussed  between  Job  and  his  three 
friends,  including  also  Elihu. 

The  main  design  of  the  book  as  evolved  in  the  speech  of 
Jehovah,  was  twofold : 

1.  To  justify  the  assumption  that  the  ultimate  reasons 
why  suffering  befalls  good  men  in  this  world  may  lie  beyond 
the  pale  of  human  hnoivledge  as  in  this  case  of  Job,  the  ulti- 
mate reason  for  whose  suffering  was  a  test-issue  between  God 
and  Satan. 

2.  To  show  that  consequently  submission  to  God's  provi- 
dence, and  confidence  in  his  wisdom  and  love,  are  man's  true 

wisdom  and  supreme  duty. These  were  the  points  made 

and  enforced  in  the  final  decision  by  the  Almighty. 

There  may  be  reasons  for  his  permission  of  suffering,  that 
lie  away  in  the  secret  counsels  of  the  Most  High,  originating 
2 


18     INTEODUCTION. — MORAL   DESIGN   AND   PURPOSE. 

perhaps  in  his  relations  to  Satan  or  to  the  angels  of  light  or 
of  darkness,  which  we  can  not  know,  but  which  He  knows, 
and  estimates  at  their  full  value.  Therefore  we  ought  to 
confide  the  government  of  the  world  to  his  "Wisdom  and  sub- 
missively trust  him  to  manage  it  well. 

Certain  subordinate  designs  contemplated  in  the  discussions 
recorded  here  we  may  put  thus  : — (1)  To  show  that  the  doc- 
trine held  by  Job's  three  friends  was  fundamentally /afee  and 
essentially  of  pernicious  tendency — this  doctrine  being  that 
all  suffering  in  this  life  is  retributive — sent  as  punishment  for 
sin — and  is  therefore  not  only  the  j)voof  but  the  measure  of  the 

sufferer's  guilt. (2)   To   show  how  very  good  men  may 

wrestle  with  this  great  problem  of  suffering,  and  be  bitterly 
perplexed  and  agonized  by  it,  especially  when  false  views 
of  it — such  as  those  held  by  Job's  friends — are  thrust  upon 
them  and  they  are  reproached  and  condemned  as  hypocrites 
and  as  the  greatest  of  sinners  because  they  are  extreme  suf- 
ferers : (3)  To  disclose  the  darkness  that  prevailed  on 

these  points  in  the  early  ages. of  our  world  ;  shown  perhaps 
that  we  may  the  better  appreciate  the  increase  of  light  from 
that  time  onward  through  the  Old  Testament  age  to  the  yet 
more  full  revelations  made  by  the  glorious  Sun  of  right- 
eousness at  his  rising. 

Let  it  now  be  suggested  negatively :  (1)  That  the  main 
question  of  the  book  is  not  the  point  raised  in  the  opening 
historic  chapters  as  at  issue  between  God  and  Satan,  viz.. 
Whether  there  is  any  really  unselfish  piety;  whether  Job's 
piety  was  or  was  not  a  refined  selfishness — a  serving  of  God 
for  the  present  reward  which  God  was  giving  and  was  ex- 
pected to  give. 

This  issue  sufficed  to  explain  the  extraordinary  inflictions 
which  fell  upon  Job.  It  also  gave  occasion  to  the  long  dis- 
cussions in  this  book.  This  is  one  part  of  the  service  which 
the  issue  made  between  God  and  Satan  performed.  But  the 
question  whether  Job's  piety  would  or  would  not  bear  this 
terrible  strain  without  the  least  moral  failure  seems  not 
to  have  been  among  the  things  to  be  settled  by  this  book. 
In  the  final  issue,  no  notice  is  taken  of  the  point  raised 
by  Satan.  It  had  manifestly  served  its  purpose  when  it 
had  accounted  for  the  fearful  and  otherwise  unaccountable 
severity  of  Job's  afflictions. 

Yet  God's  ways  and  purposes  are  manifold,  compassing  in 
every  movement  more  results  than  our  wisdom  is  wont  to 
think  of  and  indeed  more  than  our  finite  intelligence  can 


INTRODUCTION. — MORAL   DESIGN   AND   PURPOSE.    19 

even  comprehend  when  the  facts  are  mainly  before  us.  It 
is  therefore  quite  supposable  that  among  his  subordinate 
purposes  in  this  trial  of  Job,  God  may  have  embraced  this 
one,  viz.:  to  show  how  the  human  nature  of  his  own  dear 
children — not  yet  perfectly  sanctified — bears  itself  under  ter- 
rific temptation  ;  how  it  struggles,  wrestles,  and  sometimes 
reels  under  the  shock  and  the  strain  that  are  too  stern  and 
stubborn  for  merely  human  strength ;  and  then  how  God 
comes  to  the  rescue,  and  grace  saves  the  tempted  one  from 
utter  fall. This  mapping  out  of  Job's  experiences,  re- 
garded in  this  point  of  light,  has  useful  lessons  for  us — not 
least  among  which  is  the  suggestion  it  makes  that  if  Job 
had  only  been  able  to  read  from  our  New  Testament  how  the 
Lord  "makes  all  thmgs  work  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love  God"  and  how  he  chastens  whom  he  loves,  he 
might  have  breasted  the  surging  waves  of  this  troubled  sea 
with  calmer  trust  and  steadier  nerve.  Ah,  indeed ;  and  if 
he  could  have  read  the  whole  story  of  this  book  that  bears 
his  name,  or  if  some  angel  from  among  those  "  sons  of 
God"  had  come  down  to  whisper  in  his  ear  what  Satan  had 
been  impudent  enough  to  say  in  the  very  face  of  God,  and 
how  the  Lord  proposed  to  him  to  test  the  question  of  Job's 
unselfishness  if  he  pleased,  then  would  not  the  patriarch 
have  stood  up  to  the  rack  and  the  torture,  with  a  sense  of 
an  object  grand  enough  to  justify  the  utmost  suffering  that 
human  nerves  can  bear?  Yet  the  grandeur  of  this  moral 
conflict  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the  awful  darkness  of  the 
night  and  to  the  terrible  uncertainties  of  the  storm  through 
which  the  great  sufferer  was  destined  to  pass.  With  God's 
help  Job  did  weather  the  gale  and  enter  the  harbor  at  last — 
a  nobly  saved  man  in  the  end — one  more  moral  lesson  from 
this  wonderful  book. 

(2)  The  great  question  of  the  book  is  not  this  (as  some  have 
held) — Whether  Job  believed  in  a  future  retribution  ;  or 
whether  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life  is  \ntal  to  the  true 
solution  of  the  great  problem  of  suffering  as  it  stands  forth 

to  human  view  here. (3)  Nor  is  it  the  purjwse  of  this 

book  to  discuss  abstractly  the  -Jt-ses  oj  suffering  in  the  great 
system  of  agencies  for  perfecting  human  character.  True, 
something  may  be  learned  incidentally  from  the  book,  bear- 
ing on  that  question  ;  but  to  suppose  that  this  was  the  main 
question  of  the  book  is  to  ignore  things  most  patent,  and 

give   chief  prominence  to  what  is  very  incidental. (4) 

Nor,  finally,  is  it  the  purpose  of  the  book  to  disclose  the 


20   INTEODUCTION. — MORAL   DESIGN    AND   PURfOSE. 

subtle  power  of  self-righteousness  over  human  souls  or  the 
mischiefs  of  an  undue  regard  for  reputation  as  exemplified 
in  tlie  case  of  Job.  This  notion  comes  of  overlooking  the 
main  things  of  the  book  and  magnifying  points  which  in 
their  relative  worth  are  almost  insignificant. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 


CEAPTER    I. 

1.  There  Avas  a  man  in  the  land  of  Uz,  whose  name  7va3 
Job ;  and  that  man  was  perfect  and  upright,  and  one  that 
feared  God,  and  eschewed  evil. 

Of  "the  hxnd  of  Uz",  see  Introduction,  page  5. 

A  man  of  unblemished  integrity.  This  phrase  correctly 
measures  the  significance  of  the  original  words  for  "perfect  and 

upright". "Eschewed",  in    the   sense    of  the   more  modern 

words,  shun,  avoid.  The  old  word  "eschew"  has  affinities  with 
the  English  word,  to  shy,  in  the  sense  to  keep  clear  of,  to  turn 
sharply  away  from. 

2.  And  there  were  born  unto  him  seven  sons  and  three 
daughters. 

3.  His  substance  also  was  seven  thousand  sheep,  and  three 
thousand  camels,  and  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  and  five 
hundred  she-asses,  and  a  very  great  household ;  so  that  this 
man  was  the  greatest  of  all  the  men  of  the  east. 

4.  And  his  sons  Avent  and  feasted  in  their  houses,  every  one 
his  day;  and  sent  and  called  for  their  three  sisters  to  eat  and 
to  drink  with  them. 

In  nomadic  life  throughout  the  great  deserts  of  Arabia,  prop- 
erty in  land  was  only  general — a  right  to  go  and  to  occupy  tem- 
porarily where  they  would,  provided  they  did  not  come  into 
collision  with  others.  In  the  close,  strict  sense,  all  property  was 
in  cattle.  Hence  Job's  "  substance  "  his  real  property,  was  esti- 
mated  by  the  count    of  his  varieties  of  cattle. Camels  were 

used  for  travel  and  for  burdens;  are  sometimes  described  as   "the 

ship  of  the  desert". She- asses  were  valued  for  their  labor  and 

for  their  milk. "Household"  is  the  collective  term  for  serv- 
ants.  "  C4reatest"  refers  especially  to  his  wealth. His  sons 

held  festivals  successively  each  in  his  own  house  on  his  own 
birthday. 

(21) 


22  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP   I. 

5.  And  it  was  so,  when  the  days  of  their  feasting  were  gone 
about,  that  Job  sent  and  sanctified  them,  and  rose  up  early 
in  the  morning,  and  offered  burnt-offerings  according  to  the 
number  of  them  all :  for  Job  said,  It  may  be  that  my  sons 
have  sinned,  and  cursed  God  in  their  hearts.  Thus  did  Job 
continually. 

When  the  annual  circuit  had  been  made,  one  festival  in  each 
son's  house,  Job  sent  and  purified  them  by  the  offering  of  special 
sacrifices,  one  for  each  of  his  sons,  for  he  feared  that  under  the 
temptations  incident  to  festivities,  they  might  have  sinned.  Good 
man  that  lie  was — a  careful  and  conscientious  father,  watchful  ever- 
more over  the  spiritual  life  of  his  children — why  should  he 
not  guard  them  against  probable  dangers  on  these  occasions  ? 

On  the  sense  of  the  word  "cursed"  (both  here  and  in  v.  11 
and  2 :  5,  9)  there  has  been  much  discussion  and  diversity  of 
views.  The  original  is  the  common,  well-known  Hebrew  word 
for   bless* — so  that  the  great  problem    has    been,  How  can   the 

same  word  mean  both  bless  and  curse  ? The  only  satisfactory 

analysis  of  the  significations  of  this  word  is  this — that  it  became 
the  current  term  for  the  social  farewell  at  the  parting  of  friends, 
equivalent  to  adieu ;  God  be  with  you ;  and  hence,  secondly,  be- 
came associated  with  the  sense  of  leaving,  parting  from.  This 
secondary  sense  is  supposed  therefore  to  be  the  one  which  obtains 
here.  Job  feared  that  his  sons  had  abandoned  God  in  their 
hearts — had  lost  the  sense  of  his  presence,  and  allowed  their 
souls  to  become  divorced  from  the  fear  and  love  of  God.  He 
feared  they  had  hid  farewell  to  God  in  the  sense  of  dropping 
him  out  of  their  thoughts,  concern  and  affection. f  We  can 
readily  excuse  the  anxious  father  for  this  fear.  There  was  danger 
in  this  direction.  This  sense  of  the  word  therefore  befits  the 
circumstances,  as  well  as  comes  naturally  from  the  current  usage 
of  this  farewell  term. 

6.  Now  there  was  a  day  when  the  sous  of  God  came  to 
present  themselves  before  the  Lord,  and  Satan  came  also 
among  them. 

7.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Whence  comest  thou  ? 
Then  Satan  answered  the  Lord,  and  said,  From  going  to 
and  fro  in  the  earth,  and  from  walking  up  and  down  in  it. 

8.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Hast  thou  considered 
my  servant  Job,  that  there  is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a 

f  A  similar  usage  appears  in  both  ancient  and  modern  classics. 
Horace  says,  "Valeat  res  ludicra";  farewell  to  the  stage.  Shakes- 
peare: "But  farewell,  compliment". 

"  Farewell,  faint-hearted  and  degenerate  king. 
In  whose  cold  blood,  no  spark  of  honor  bides  ". 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.    I.  23 

perfect  and  an  upright  man,  one  that  feareth  God,  and 
escheweth  evil? 

9.  Then  Satan  answered  the  Lord,  and  said,  Doth  Job 
fear  God  for  nought  ? 

10.  Hast  not  thou  made  a  hedge  about  him,  and  about  his 
house,  and  about  all  tliat  he  hath  on  every  side?  thou  hast 
blessed  the  work  of  his  hands,  and  his  substance  is  increased 
in  the  land. 

11.  But  put  forth  thy  hand  now,  and  touch  all  that  he 
hath,  and  he  will  curse  thee  to  thy-ftice. 

12.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  Satan,  Behold,  all  that  he 
liatli  is  in  thy  power ;  only  upon  himself  put  not  forth  thy 
hand.     So  Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

Upon  what  is  said  here  of  Satan  see  Introduction,  pages  4,  5. 

The  question,  Who  are  these  "sons  of  God"?  is  probably  best 
answered  by  referring  to  Job  38 :  7 :  holy  beings ;  angels  un- 
fallen.  That  Satan  should  come  into  their  assembly,  reporting 
himself  as  just  in  from  ranging  up  and  down  over  this  fallen 
world,  has  its  fact  supported  by  the  words  of  Peter — "Going  about, 
seeking  whom  he  may  devour"; — and  its  analogy  in  the  scenes 
described  in  1  Kings  22:  19.  It  is  easy  for  us  to  raise  more 
questions  on  this  subject  than  the  wisest  of  men  can  answer; 
e.  (/.,  Where  Avas  this  meeting  held;  and  when?  Are  such  meet- 
ings held  statedly  or  only  occasionally?  Is  this  mere  costume — 
a  way  of  giving  point  and  distinctness  to  the  fact  that  Satan  is 
working  a  scheme  of  opposition  against  God  and  all  righteousness, 
always  traducing  righteous  men  and  in  every  possible  way  foster- 
ing the  interests  of  a  great  rebellion  against  Jehovah  ;  or,  are  we 

to  accept  this  statement  as  in  form  a  fact  of  the  spiritual  world  ? 

Leaving  undetermined  all  questions  upon  which  revelation  has  shed 
no  light,  it  is  important  for  us  to  admit,  what  every-where  revela- 
tion has  taught  us — that  Satan  is  a  real  person ;  is  the  enemy  of 
all  righteousness;  is  "going  about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour";  is  evermore  "an  accuser  of  the  breth- 
ren "  (Rev.  12:  10).  There  were  doubtless  good  reasons  why  the 
revealing  spirit  should  give  us  so  much  light  as  appears  in  these 
two  chapters  of  Job  respecting  his  agencies  in  our  world.  In- 
deed, it  may  be  supposed  that  Satan  is  brought  to  view  here,  not 
merely  to  indicate  to  us  his  work  among  men  and  his  moral  atti- 
tude toward  God  and  all  the  good,  but  also  to  suggest  one  reason 
why  God  should  permit  these  extreme  afflictions  to  befall  one  of 
the  best  of  men.  This  terrible  scene  of  suffering  might  otherwise 
seem  unaccountable  even  to  the  angels  nearest  the  throne  above. 
Moreover,  God  might  deem  it  wise  to  permit  a  test  case  to  show 
the  devil  and  all  his  party  how  God  can  save  his  children ;  bring 
good  out  of  Satan's  intended  evil;  and  frustrate  his  schemes,  to 
his  own  everlasting  chagrin  and  confusion. 

"Hast  thou  considered    my  servant  Job?" — set    thy  thought 


24  THE   BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP.    I. 

upon  him  as  one  worthy  of  thy  special  notice — a  very  pertinent 
question  to  be  asked  of  Satan  who  has  no  love  for  such  exem- 
plary men  and  is  little  apt  to  notice  them  save  to  traduce  and 
blacken — if  he  can. Satan's  reply  is  thoroughly  character- 
istic:— Job's  piety  is  sheer  selfishness ;  he  serves  God  only  for 
pay.  There  is  no  unselfish  piety.  Thou  hast  hedged  him  about 
with  thy  protection,  hast  carefully  preserved  for  him  all  his  great 
possessions,  so  that  he  finds  it  profitable  to  serve  thee  as  much 
as  he  does.  But  now,  turn  thy  hand  and  instead  of  protecting, 
destroy  his  great  possessions,  and  he  will  abandon  thee — will  bid 
thee  farewell,  even  to  thy  face,  and  thou  wilt  see  the  end  of  all 

his  piety,  service  and  homage. Note  that  while  Satan  proposed 

that  the  Lord  should  do  this,  the  Lord  gave  Satan  permission  to 
do  it  himself  So,  the  result  would  be  more  convincing,  and  the 
agency  itself  would  be  specially  gratifying  to  one  who  is  so  much 
of  a  devil.  The  permission  this  time  reached  only  Job's  posses- 
sions ;  not   his   person. It  is  well   for  our   race   that  Satan's 

power  in  this  world  is  limited  by  the  divine  permission.  God 
always  knows  its  permitted  amount,  and  how  to  provide  for  his 
trusting  people  a  way  of  escape,  and  help  in  their  need  so  that 
they  may  be  able  to  bear  it.  See  Paul's  allusion  to  this  (1  Cor. 
10:  13  andEph.  6:  10-16). 

13.  And  tliere  was  a  day  when  his  sons  and  his  daugh- 
ters were  eating  and  drinking  wine  in  their  eldest  brother's 
house : 

14.  And  there  came  a  messenger  unto  Job,  and  said,  The 
oxen  were  plowing,  and  the  asses  feeding  beside  them  : 

15.  And  the  Sabeans  fell  ^q■)on  them,  and  took  them  away ; 
yea,  they  have  slain  the  servants  with  the  edge  of  the  sword  ; 
and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

These  Sabeans  are  supposed  to  have  descended  from  Sheba, 
the  fifth  in  line  of  descent  from  Shorn  (Gen.  10:  21-28).  Their 
home  was  in  that  great  "  eastern"  land  of  the  remote  Arabian 

desert  (v.  30). Savage  incursions  for  plunder  were  then,  as  in 

all  later  ages,  the  law  of  life  for  those  nomadic  tribes  of  the 
desert.     In  this  case  we  must  suppose  they  were  both  instigated 

and  guided  to  their  point  of  attack,  by  Satan. The  oxen  and 

the  asses  together  with  the  servants  who  had  them  in  charge 
and  were  laboring  with  them  in  the  field,  were  all  swept  away — 
the  cattle  driven  off  and  the  servants  slain — all  but  the  one  who 
escaped  to  tell  the  sad  story. 

16.  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  also  another, 
and  said,  The  fire  of  God  is  fallen  from  heaven,  and  hath 
bui-ued  up  the  sheep,  and  the  servants,  and  consumed  them ; 
and  I  only  am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

The  next  stroke  fell  from  heaven — "  the  fire  of  God"  which 
in  Hebrew  usage  is  commonly  lightning.  (See  1  Kings  18;  38  and 


THE  BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    I.  25 

2  Kings  1 :  12  and  Lev.  9 :  24 ;  1  Chron.  21 :  26  and  2  Chron.  7 :  ] ). 
We  arc  to  find  here  another  case  of  Satanic  agency,  yet  wrought 
strictly  under  divine  permission.  It  would  bear  the  more  severely 
upon  the  heart  of  Job  for  its  seeming  to  come  from  the  very  hand 

of  God  himself. Note  that  this  infliction  sAvept  from  Job  all 

his  flocks  of  lesser  cattle ;  and  also  the  servants  in  charge,  "with 
the  exception  of  one  man  to  bear  to  him  the  tidings. 

17.  "While  he  Avas  yet  speaking,  there  came  also  another, 
and  said,  The  Chaldeans  made  out  three  bands,  and  fell 
upon  the  camels,  and  have  carried  them  away,  yea,  and  slain 
the  servants  with  the  edge  of  the  sword  ;  and  I  only  am 
escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

Interspersing  inflictions  from  the  hand  of  man  with  those  which 
came  more  apparently  from  the  hand  of  God,  we  have  next  a 
second  predatory  troop,  viz.,  of  Chaldeans — in  that  early  age,  a 
wild  savage  race,  holding  the  mountain  regions  of  Armenia. 
Later  they  came  down  upon  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia  and 
founded  the  great  Chaldean  empire.  Their  history  may  be  traced 
further  by  means  of  various  allusions  to  them  in  the  Scriptures, 
e.  (/.,  Isa.  23 :  13  and  13 :  19  and  43  :  12,  and  2  Kings  24  :  2,  etc. 

In  this  assault  they  formed  three  bands,  to  surround  their  prey 
and  make  escape  more  difficult.  The  camels  they  drove  off;  the 
servants  in  charge  they  slew,  one  messenger  only  escaping. 

18.  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  also  another, 
and  said,  Thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  were  eating  and  drink- 
ing wine  in  their  eldest  brother's  house : 

19.  And,  behold,  there  came  a  great  wind  from  the  wil- 
derness, and  smote  the  four  corners  of  the  house,  and  it  fell 
upon  the  young  men,  and  they  are  dead;  and  I  only  am 
escaped  alone  to  tell  thee. 

The  first  three  inflictions  have  swept  away  Job's  property 
entire,  leaving  him  nothing :  this  takes  his  children.  While  they 
were  feasting  in  their  eldest  brother's  house,  a  tornado  from  the 
wilderness  struck  the  house  and  laid  it  in  ruins;  the  young  men, 
his  sons,  Avere  buried  beneath !  This  must  have  seemed  to  Job  to 
come  directly  from  the  hand  of  the  Almighty. 

20.  Then  Job  arose,  and  rent  his  mantle,  and  shaved  his 
head,  and  fell  doAvn  upon  the  ground,  and  wor.shiped, 

21.  And  said.  Naked  came  I  out  of  my  mother's  womb, 
and  naked  shall  I  return  thither:  the  Lord  gave,  and  the 
Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

22.  In  all  this  Job  sinned  not,  nor  charged  God  foolishly. 
Here  are  the  customary  tokens  of  intense  grief,  yet  blended 

with  the  strongest  expressions  of  resignation  to  the  divine  will — 
a  resignation  not  coldly  philosophical  but  deeply  sincere,  grateful 


26  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    II. 

and  adoring.  Thus  far  Satan  has  won  no  laurels  in  this  fight. 
Job's  piety  is  the  brighter  for  the  fire  it  has  passed  through.  Is 
it  not  more  than  beautiful,  yea  morally  sublime,  to  say  from  the 
heart  under  such  absolute  bereavement: — "The  Lord  gave  and 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away:  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord!" 

As  to  these  tokens  of  grief,  they  are  of  course  oriental — those 
of  the  country  and  age  where  Job  lived.  To  rend  the  garments, 
to  shave  the  head,  to  fall,  prostrate  upon  the  earth,  to  olTer  wor- 
ship by  these  profound  prostrations  attended  with  the  appropri- 
ate utterances  of  grief — all  these  were  in  their  view  the  natural 
language  of  great  sorrow. 

"Return  thither,"  i.  e.,  to  the  dust,  to  the  bosom  of  earth,  my 
second  mother.  Job's  thought  is  obviously  upon  the  original  sen- 
tence— "  Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return."  Born 
naked,  bringing  nothing  into  the  world,  I  am  in  a  sense  ready 
now  to  die  naked, — shorn  of  all  that  men  hold  dear  in  the  line  of 
earthly  possessions.  Of  all  my  hei'ds  and  flocks  not  a  hoof  re- 
mains to  me ;  not  a  servant  of  my  great  household ;  not  a  child  to 
my  name !  How  naked  and  how  desolate !  Yet  all  those  treas- 
ures the  Lord  gave ;  why  should  I  murmur  that  he  takes  them  all 
away?    Rather  let  me  bless  his  glorious  name! 


CHAPTER  II. 

1.  Again  there  was  a  day  when  the  sous  of  God  came  to 
present  themselves  before  the  Lord,  and  Satan  came  also 
among  them  to  present  himself  before  the  Lord. 

2.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  From  whence  comest 
thou?  And  Satan  answered  the  Lord,  and  said,  From 
going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  and  from  walking  up  and 
down  in  it. 

3.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Hast  thou  considered 
my  servant  Job,  that  there  is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a 
perfect  and  an  upright  man,  one  that  feareth  God,  and 
escheweth  evil?  and  still  he  holdeth  fast  his  integrity, 
although  thou  movedst  me  against  him,  to  destroy  him  with- 
out cause. 

Despite  of  his  utter  failure  thus  far,  Satan  is  still  ready  and 
even  eager  for  one  more  onset;  and  the  Lord  seems  not  averse  to 
a  more  extreme  trial  of  his  servant  Job.  A  second  meeting  is 
therefore  held  of  the  sons  of  God,  Satan  coming  again  among 
them — the  account  of  this  meeting  being  in  substantially  the 
same  words  as  of  the  former.  Triumphantly  the  Lord  refers 
Satan  to  the  case  of  Job,  still  holding  fast  his  integrity  although 


THE    BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.    II.  27 

Satan  had  been  movint!;  the  Lord  to  swallow  him  up  (Ileb.)  with- 
out good  cause  in  Job  himsoll"  for  any  such  infliction.  A  less 
frequent  sense  of  the  lleb.  word  for  "unfhout  cause"  is  in  vain, 
without  securing  the  result  sought.  Either  sense  might  be  ad- 
missible here.  The  former  is  the  more  usual,  and,  so  far,  has 
the  preference. 

4. 'And  Satan  answered  the  Lord,  and  said'  Skin  for 
skin,  yea,  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life. 

5.  But  put  forth  thine  hand  now,  and  touch  his  bone  and 
his  flesh,  and  he  will  curse  thee  to  thy  face. 

6.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Behold,  he  k  in  thine 
hand ;  but  save  his  life. 

"Skin  for  skin"  is  manifestly  a  proverb,  coming  from  the 
world  of  trade,  and  signifying — any  thing  for  its  equivalent.  In 
barter,  skin  went  for  skin,  one  an  offset  for  the  other.  In  this 
sense  Satan  applies 'his  own  words;  all  a  man  hath — all  his 
goods — he  gives  cheerfully  as  an  equivalent  for  his  life.  In  the 
application  he  meant  to  insinuate  that  these  inflictions  upon  Job 
were  still  very  trivial  and  of  small  account— had  not  half  stripped 
him,  for  his  sound  body,  still  left  to  him,  was  more  than  an 
equivalent  for  all  the  Lord  had  taken  away.  Make  this  trial  (he 
would  say)  more  thorough;  put  forth  thy  hand  and  touch  his 
bone  and  his  flesh,  and  he  will  bid  thee  farewell  before  thy  very 
face  and  quit  thy  service. 

The  Lord  replied :  He  is  in  your  hand  for  the  further  trial  you 
demand,  only  spare  his  life.  Give  him  pain  to  your  heart's 
content. 

7.  So  went  Satan  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
and  smote  Job  "with  sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto 
his  crown. 

8.  And  he  took  him  a  potsherd  to  scrape  himself  withal ; 
and  he  sat  down  among  the  ashes. 

"Sore  boils" — an  oriental  disease  and  not  the  modern  one 
known  under  this  English  name.  The  best  critics  suppose  that 
this  disease  of  Job  was  the  black  leprosy,  called  "elephantiasis" 
from  the  resemblance  of  its  blotched,  rough  skin  and  swollen 
limbs,  to  the  skin  and  limbs  of  that  animal.  It  was  one  of  the 
ten  plagues  upon  Egypt  (Ex.  9:  9-11):  is  threatened  (Deut.  28: 
27,  35);  and  is  described  somewhat  definitely  by  its  symptoms 
in  Lev.  13. 

Conant  gives  this  description  : 

"In  this  disease  small  spots  first  appear  on  the  skin,  then 
tumors,  of  the  size  of  a  pea  at  first,  increasing  to  that  of  a  walnut  or 
a  hen's  egg,  with  deep  furrows  between,  covering  the  whole  bod}'. 
Finally,  many  of  these  suppurate  and  form  ulcers,  with  a  bloody 
and  very  offensive  discharge  which  dries  and  hardens  to  dark  colored 
scales.      The  face  becomes  bloated  and  glistening,  the  eyes  feeble 


28  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  II. 

and  watery,  the  breath  offensive,  tlie  voice  weak  and  hoarse  or  en- 
tirely lost.  The  sufferer  is  subject  to  extreme  dejection ;  his 
nights  are  sleepless,  or  harassed  with  frightful  dreams.  In  the  last 
stage  of  this  disease,  the  extremities  perish  and  fall  off,  the  bones 
and  ligaments  being  destroj'ed  by  the  ulceration.  No  cure  has  been 
fonnd  for  this  terrible  malady  though  the  patient  may  survive  many 
years." 

To  sit  down  upon  the  ground,  and  still  more  to  sit  in  ashes, 

betokened  the  extremity  of  grief. A  potsherd — piece  of  broken 

pottery,  such  as  he  would  readily  find  among  the  ashes,  he  took 
to  scrape  himself  to  relieve  the  intolerable  itching  and  burning — 
a  relief  at  best  bvit  Inomentary,  and  followed  by  severer  pains. 

That  Satan,  with  permission  from  God,  can  inflict  disease  upon 
men,  is  fully  implied  in  the  demoniacal  i^ossessions  and  in  their 
forms  of  disease  which  appear  often  in  the  gospel  history  (e.  g., 
Matt.  9:  32-34  and  Mark  3:  23,  24  and  Luke  13 :  16,  etc.) 

9.  Then  said  his  wife  unto  him,  Dost  thou  still  retain 
thine  integrity?  curse  God  and  die. 

10.  But  he  said  unto  her,  Thou  speakest  as  one  of  the  fool- 
ish women  speaketh.  What?  shall  we  receive  good  at  the 
hand  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil?  In  all  this  did 
not  Job  sin  with  his  lips. 

Job's  afflictions  were  terribly  heightened  in  severity  by  these 
instigations  from  his  wife.  When  he  so  greatly  needed  not  only 
sympathy  but  moral  support  to  his  tried  spirit,  it  was  dreadful  to 
meet  only  this  cold,  heartless  reproach  which  seemed  to  imply 
that  his  trouble  came  of  still  maintaining  his  moral  integrity 
toward  God  !     Oh,  how  could  she  throw  her  entire  influence  to 

help  Satan  and  to  make  her  husband's  trial  insupportable! 

"  Curse  God  and  die  "  (as  above  explained)  means — Renounce 
God  ;  bid  farewell  forever  to  God  and  to  your  pious  regard  for  God ; 
and  then  let  death  come  if  it  will!  What's  the  use  of  such  a  suf- 
fering life?— — Some  critics  upon  this  passage  have  given  this 
Heb.  word  for  Mess  its  usual  sense,  but  in  irony,  thus: — Bless 
God  if  so  you  will ;  this  is  all  you  get  for  it — to  die  !  The  sense 
first  above  given,  has  the  supportof  its  usage  in  this  history  (1 :  11 
and  2  :  5)  and  must  be  preferred. 

Job's  reply  charges  her  -with  follfj — that  extreme  of  folly  which 

is  the  essence  of  such  impiety  toward  God. "Shall  we  receive 

good?"  etc.  Some  critics  read  the  first  clause  affirmatively  and  only 
the  second  interrogatively:  We  receive  good  at  God's  hand  con- 
stantly, richly,  far  beyond  our  desert;  shall  wo  not  therefore 
accept  the  evil  which  his  hand  in  loving  wisdom  may  send?  But 
the  original  gives  as  much  authority  for  making  the  first  clause  a 
question  as  "the  second,  and  the  sentence  is  thus  made  more 
spirited  and  forcible ;  Shall  we  continually  receive  good  from  the 
Lord's  hand — enough  assuredly  to  prove  his  love  to  us — and  then 


THE  BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  Ill,  29 

not  l)c  willing  to  boar  submissively  and  trustfully  the  small  cvila 
which  the  same  pood  Being  may  see  fit  to  send  ? 

Again  it  is  testified  that  thus  far  Job  "  did  not  sin  with  his  lips.'* 

11.  Now  wlien  Job's  three  friends  heard  of  all  this  evil  that 
Avas  come  upon  him,  they  came  every  one  from  his  own  place ; 
Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  and  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar 
the  Naamathite  ;  for  they  had  made  an  appointment  together 
to  come  to  mourn  with  him,  and  to  comfort  him. 

12.  And  Avhen  they  lifted  up  their  eyes  afar  off,  and  knew 
him  not,  they  lifted  up  their  voice,  and  wept ;  and  they  rent 
every  one  his  mantle,  and  sprinkled  dust  upon  their  heads 
toward  heaven. 

13.  So  they  sat  down  Avith  him  upon  the  ground  seven 
days  and  seven  nights,  and  none  spake  a  word  unto  him :  for 
they  saw  that  his  grief  Avas  very  great. 

See  allusions  to  these  three  friends  in  the  Introduction,  page  G. 
They  seem  to  have  come  from  somewhat  remote  parts — men 
prominent  in  their  respective  homes,  rcjiresentative  men,  as  Job 
also  was  in  his  home  sphere. 

The  scene,  as  sketched  here,  is  inimitaldy  touching.  They  saw 
him  from  afar,  but  so  changed  they  could  not  recognize  him!  is 
it  strange  that  they  should  lift  up  their  voices  in  loud  wails  of 
grief — should  rend  their  mantles  and  sprinkle  dust  on  their  heads  ? 
Think  of  seven  days'  silence,  sitting  there  by  their  old  friend, 
now  so  desolate,  so  terribly  smitten  of  God  ! — We  must  suppose 
these  were  hours  of  distressing  perplexity  as  well  as  of  sympa- 
thetic grief.  With  their  theory  of  the  relation  of  suffering  to  sin, 
they  stood  amazed  at  this  supposed  evidence  of  his  awful  hypoc- 
risy, and  were  weighing  the  question  as  to  the  duty  of  rebuke  and 
its  hopeful  methods.  But  thus  far  Job  too  was  silent,  and  they 
could  not  know  how  his  heart  was  bearing  this  stern  and  fearful 
trial. 


CHAPTER    III. 

1.  After  this  oj)ened  Job  his  mouth,  and  cursed  his  day. 

Two  chapters  of  historic  introduction   in  prose  having  fully 
brought  the  case  before  us,  the  poem  proper  commences  here. 

It   may  be    a    question  whether    the    phrase — "opened  his 

mouth" — is  purposely  emphatic,  indicating  that  his  pent-up,  long 
suppressed  emotions,  refused  to  be  restrained  longer,  and  now 
his  mouth  (so  to  speak)  bursts  open  and  this  torrent  of  impreca- 
tions upon  his  day  pours  itself  forth.     If  the  phrase  were  not  a 


30  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  III. 

common  orientalism,  there  would  be  great  plausibility  in  this 
view  of  its  significance.  Manifestly  he  speaks  as  one  whose 
griefs  are  too  urgent,  too  tumultuous  to  be  longer  suppressed  in 
silence.  Was  it  aggravated  rather  than  relieved  by  the  presence 
of  these  three  friends — sitting  seven  days  in  unexplained  silence  ? 
Did  he  begin  to  forecast  their  state  of  feeling  as  of  men  ready 
to  arraign  and  rebuke  him  for  supposed  hypocrisy,  rather  than 
to  give  him  their  sympathy,  their  consolations  and  their  prayers  ? 
Be  the  cause  what  it  may,  we  miss  in  this  chapter  the  sweet  res- 
ignation and  the  calm  good  sense  and  piety  which  shine  out  in 
the  passages  chap.  1  :  21  and  2  :  10. "  Cursed  his  day" — his  birth- 
day as  appears  from  the  following    context    and    also  from  the 

usage  of  the'word  in  chap.  1 : 4. Tliis  Hebrew  word  for  curse* 

is  not  the  common  woi-d  for  "bless"  which  we  find  translated 
"  curse"  in  chap.  1 :  5,  11  and  in  2:  5,  9. 

2.  And  Job  spake,  and  said, 

3.  Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was  born,  and  the  night 
m  ivhich  it  was  said.  There  is  a  man-child  conceived. 

4.  Let  that  day  be  darkness  ;  let  not  God  regard  it  from 
above,  neither  let  the  light  shine  upon  it. 

5.  Let  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  stain  it ;  let  a 
cloud  dwell  upon  it ;  let  the  blackness  of  the  day  terrify  it. 

"  Job  spake" — in  the  original,  ansAvered,  but  in  the  sense,  com- 
mon in  the  Scriptures,  of  speaking  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  yet  not  in  reply  to  words  really  spoken  before.     Job  gave 

utterance  to  long  pent  emotions. "  Let  the  day  perish" — not  so 

much  cease  to  be  as  to  have  been.  Let  the  day  and  all  it  brought 
with  it — especially  my  own  bii'th  into  being — go  into  nonentity, 
bearing  with  it  my  own  existence.  It  avails  nothing  to  reason 
against  such  a  prayer  that  the  thing  asked  is  an  utter  impossi- 
bility. In  his  calm  moments  Job  would  have  seen  this.  But  these 
are  expressions  of  uncontrolled  emotion,  taking  on  the  strong 
forms  of  oriental  speech.  It  is  equivalent  to  a  prayer  that  he 
had  never  been  born,  or  if  born,  yet  only  to  die  in  birth. Per- 
ish also  the  night  which  said  (so  the  Hebrew  makes  the  night 
speak)  "a  man-child  is  delivered."  Let  that  day  be  darkness,  no 
sun  arising  upon  it ;  let  not  God  from  above  look  after  it  to  bring 
it  under  his  usual  regard  and  count  it  among  the  days  of  time. 
Let   darkness   and   death-shade — not   stain — but    reclaim    it    as 

their  own  and  take  it  into  their  own  domain. Not  so  well — 

"  the  blackness  of  the  day;"  but  rather — Let  the  obscurations  of 
the  day  terrify  it — said  with  reference  to  eclipses  which  throw 
their  dark  shadows  upon  the  day.  The  word  "terrify"  looks  to- 
ward the  superstitions  of  ancient  times  which  regarded  an  eclipse 
as  a  fearful  omen  of  great  calamities  impending.  Let  dark 
eclipses  bring  down  all  their  terrors  upon  it. 


THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.  III.  31 

0.  As  for  that  night,  let  darkness  seize  upon  it ;  let  it 
not  be  joined  unto  the  days  of  the  year ;  let  it  not  come  into 
the  number  of  the  months. 

7.  Lo,  let  that  night  be  solitary,  let  no  joyful  voice  come 
therein. 

8.  Let  them  curse  it  that  curse  the  day,  who  are  ready  to 
raise  up  their  mourning. 

9.  Let  the  stars  of  the  twilight  thereof  be  dark;  let  it 
look  for  light,  but  have  none ;  neither  let  it  see  the  dawning 
of  the  day : 

10.  Because  it  shut  not  up  the  doors  of  my  mother's  womb, 
nor  hid  sorrow  from  mine  eyes. 

It  is  only  by  a  poetic  variation  that  Job  passes  from  impreca- 
tions upon  the  day  to   like   imprecations  upon  the   night  of  his 

birth. As  for  that  night,  let  utter  darkness  seize  upon  and  hold 

it;  let  it  not  rejoice  (better  than  "be  joined")  among  the  days 
of  the  year.  (This  improvement  in  the  sense  comes  from  de- 
riving the  verb  from  another  root). "  Let  that  night  be  soli- 
tary," ?'.  e.,  barren,  no  living  births  occurring  in  it:  let  no  joyful 

shouts  be  heard  therein,  oyer  a  man-child  born. V.  8  alludes 

to  persons  supposed  to  have  power  to  curse  any  particular  day  so 
that  every  thing  attempted  on  that  day  shall  fail  and  the  day  be 

sacred  to  ill-fortune  and  calamity. Its  last  clause  means — Who 

are  ready  or  skilled  to  arouse  to  frenzy  the  crooked  serpent,  the 
"leviathan"  (Heb.).  This  also  belongs  to  the  domain  of  oriental 
superstitions,  according  to  which  certain  people  professed  the 
skill  of  exciting  serpents  to  frenzy,  and  charming  them  down  to 
quietude.     To  such  men  Job  would  conseci'ate  his  birth-night  and 

let  them  have  it,  all  their  own  to  curse  at  their  will. Let  the 

very  stars  of  that  night  be  dark.     The  last   clause  of  v.  9  gives 

this  beautiful  image ; Let  not  that  night  look  forth    through 

the  eyelids  of  the  dawn — to  behold  the  sweet  rays  of  morning. 

All  these  imprecations  .lob  poured  upon  that  ill-starred  night  be- 
cause it  did  not  forestall  his  birth  into  a  suffering  existence  and 
thus  hide  all  sorrow  from  his  eyes. 

11.  Why  died  I  not  from  the  Avomb?  ivhy  did  I  not  give 
up  the  ghost  when  I  came  out  of  the  belly? 

12.  Why  did  the  knees  prevent  me?  or  why  the  breasts 
that  I  should  suck? 

Thus  deep  emotion  is  wont  to  repeat  its  utterances  of  grief 
with  only  the  slightest  variations.  How  ardently  this  sufferer 
would  pray  (if  he  might)  that  he  had  never  been  born  alive! 
Why  did  my  Maker  provide  beforehand  a  mother's  lap  ("  knees  ") 
to  receive  me,  and  a  mother's  breast  with  nutriment  for  my  sub- 
sistence ? The   English  word    "prevent",  the   reader   should 

notice,  has   not   the   modern   sense,  shtd  off,  forestall ;  but  the 


32  THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.  III. 

ancient  sense — provide  beforehand — be  in  advance  of  my  need, 
in  readiness  to  meet  it. 

13.  For  now  should  I  have  lain  still  and  been  quiet,  I 
should  have  slept :  then  had  I  been  at  rest, 

14.  With  kings  and  counsellors  of  the  earth,  which  built 
desolate  places  for  themselves; 

15.  Or  with  princes  that  had  gold,  who  filled  their  houses 
■with  silver: 

16.  Or  as  a  hidden  untimely  birth  I  had  not  been;  as  in- 
fants ^vhich  never  saw  light. 

Oh,  how  quiet  (as  he  thinks  of  them)  are  the  dead,  especially 
those  who  have  had  no  earthly  life !  He  thinks  also  of  their 
company  in    the  under-world — the   great  men  of  earth,  all   are 

there. "  Who    built     ruins    for    themselves  " — suggests     the 

vanity  of  the  proudest  human  labors ;  for  princes  with  immense 
weahli  and  infinite  toil  have  built  for  themselves  splendid  man- 
sions only  to  have  them  become  vast  ruins. 

17.  There  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling;  and  there  the 
weary  be  at  rest. 

18.  There  the  prisoners  rest  together;  they  hear  not  the 
voice  of  the  oppressor.? 

19.  The  small  and  great  are  there;  and  the  servant  is  free 
from  his  master. 

So  Job  enlarges  upon  the  supposed  state  of  the  dead  in  the 
under-world,  the  leading  thought  being,  exemption  from  the 
sorest  afiiictions  of  the  present  earthly  life  ;  quiet  after  turmoil ; 
rest  after  exhausting  labor.  In  verse  18  the  bond-men,  restrained 
of    their   freedom,    may   well    include    the    slave,  for    he    hears 

no    more     the   voice    of  the    task-master — the    slave-driver. 

"  Small  and  great"  both  are  there,  and  there  they  are  all  equally 
great — those  once  in  power  are  in  power  no  longer.  The  op- 
pressor's rod  is  broken  forever. 

20.  Wherefore  is  light  given  to  liini  that  is  in  misery,  and 
life  unto  the  bitter  in  soul ; 

21.  Which  long  for  death,  but  it  cometh  not;  and  dig  fur 
it  more  than  for  hid  treasures ; 

22.  Which  rejoice  exceedingly,  and  are  glad  when  they 
can  find  the  grave  ? 

23.  Why  is  light  given  to  a  man  whose  way  is  hid,  and. 
whom  God  hath  hedged  in  ? 

In  the  first  clause  of  v.  20,  Job  uses  not  the  passive  voice — (is 
given)  but  the  active,  saying — Why  does  one — some  one,  give? 
etc.,  yet  with  manifest  reference  to  God,  though  he  forbears  to 
speak  his  name.     Why  does  God  give  light  to  the  wretched  man 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.  IV.  33 

— to  those  who  so  long  to  die?  etc.  So  in  v.  23,  the  same  con 
struction  is  continued  from  v.  20:  Why  does  God  give  the  liglit 
(if  life  to  the  man  whose  whole  earthly  existence  is  darkened  with 
overshadowing  calamity  ?  etc.  Here  the  name  of  God  is  at  last 
spoken,  but  has  been  virtually  assumed  throughout  this  passage. 

24.  For  my  sighing  cometh  before  I  eat,  and  my  roarings 
are  poured  forth  Uke  the  waters. 

25.  For  the  thing  which  I  greatly  feared  is  come  upon 
me,  and  that  which  I  was  afraid  of  is  come  unto  me. 

26.  I  was  not  in  safety,  neither  had  I  rest,  neither  was  I 
quiet;  yet  trouble  came. 

All  this  applies  in  full  force  (Job  would  say)  to  myself — "for" 
my  sighs  come  before  my  bread.  While  men  in  comfort  and  pros- 
perity sit  at  their  joyful  board,  I  have  only  sighs  and  moans,  an- 
ticipating— coming  in  before — these  usually  bright  moments  of 
human  life.  All  the  worst  evils  I  have  ever  feared  have  come 
down  in  one  overwhelming  avalanche  upon  me.  I  could  not  really 
rest  because  of  these  foreboding  apprehensions — and  now  the  dire 
realities  come  rushing  over  me  ! 

The  Christian  reader  will  ask — What  must  be  thought  of  these 
impassioned  utterances? — While  it  is  but  fair  to  make  some 
abatement  from  our  estimate  of  his  real  meaning  on  the  score  of 
oriental  hyperbole — the  habit  of  intense  emotion  and  of  very 
strong  expressions  thereof,  and  while  it  should  also  be  considered 
that  his  disease  was  of  the  sort  that  fearfully  rasp  human  nerves, 
rob  the  sufferer  of  restoring  sleep,  and  beget  an  almost  resist- 
less depression  of  spirits,  yet  still  we  must  say — This  is  not  the 
language  of  submission  to  God's  overruling;  providence.  We 
miss  in  it  the  tone  of  resignation  which  we  delightfully  recognize 
in  the  two  previous  chapters.  We  must  set  it  to  the  account  of 
human  infirmity.  When  in  the  end  Job  came  to  apprehend 
God,  not  as  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear  but  as  by  the  more  perfect 
eye — when  he  could  say — "but  now  mine  eye  seeth  Thee",  lio 
ceased  to  give  utterance  to  such  emotions. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

First  Speech  of  EUpliaz. 

1.  Then  Eliphaz  the  Teraanite  answered  and  said, 

2.  //'  we  assay  to  commune  with  thee,  wilt  thou  be  grieved  ? 
but  who  can  withhold  himself  from  speaking? 

Eliphaz  here  opens  the  reply — the  recognized  foreman  of  this 
group  of  friends — probably  the  eldest;  manifestly  the  ablest. — His 


34  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    IV. 

first  words  are  modest  and  cautious,  as  of  one  well  aware  of  the 
delicacy  of  administering  such  reproof  as  in  his  view  the  case  de- 
manded. Should  one  Venture  a  word  with  thee,  wilt  thou  be 
offended?  But  who  can  forbear  to  speak?  Literally,  "withhold 
words,  who  can?" 

3.  Beliold,  thou  hast  instructed  many,  and  thou  hast 
strengthened  the  weak  hands. 

4.  Thy  words  have  upholden  him  that  was  falling,  and 
thou  hast  strengthened  the  feeble  knees. 

5.  But  now  it  is  come  upon  thee,  and  thou  faintest ;  it 
toucheth  thee,  and  thou  art  troubled. 

The  sense  of  these  words  is  clear  and  well  put  in  our  English 
version,  saving  that  the  last  word  "troubled"  (v.  5)  is  somewhat 
stronger  in  the  original,  viz.,  confounded,  nonplussed,  as  one  who 

has  lost  his  self-possession  and  his  spirit  of  manly  resolution. 

This  opening  of  the  debate  on  the  side  of  Job's  friends  is  severe, 
more  adapted  to  wound  than  to  soothe  or  conciliate.  Underneath 
lies  the  insinuation  that  Job's  words  have  been  better  than  his 
heart;  that  he  had  known  better  than  he  had  lived;  that  though 
able  to  counsel  others  well  and  minister  to  their  succor  and  conso- 
lation, lie  was  now  proving  himself  even  more  weak  than  other 
men — almost  a  pitiable  case  of  pusillanimity. 

6.  Is  not  this  thy  fear,  thy  confidence,  thy  hope,  and  the 
uprightness  of  thy  Avays  ? 

This  English  fails  to  suggest  readily  the  true  and  full  sense — 
which  is  this  :  Has  not  thy  piety  been  thy  confidence ;  and  thy 
hope — has  it  not  been  in  the  integrity  of  thy  ways? — Thy  assumed 
piety  has  been  the  ground  of  all  thy  confidence — by  which  Eliphaz 
suggests  that  the  root  of  Job's  difliculty  is  that  this  assumed  piety 
is  only  assumed,  and  hence,  under  such  stern  trial,  his  confidence 
has  gone  overboard — utterly  sunk  with  the  disappearance  of  his 
piety. — The  woi-d  "fear"  is  the  current  Old  Testament  term 
for  piety. 

7.  Remember,  I  pray  thee,  who  ever  perished,  being  inno- 
cent ?  or  where  were  the  righteous  cut  off? 

8.  Even  as  I  have  seen,  they  that  plow  iniquity,  and  sow 
wickedness,  reap  the  same. 

9.  By  the  blast  of  God  they  perish,  and  by  the  breath  of 
his  nostrils  are  they  consumed. 

Recall,  now  : — Who  is  he  that,  being  innocent,  has  perished  ? 
Eliphaz  holds  this  to  be  a  universal  proposition :  the  guiltless  never 
perish ;  the  righteous  are  never  cut  off.  Calamities  from  God's 
hand  fall  only  upon  the  guilty. — The  figures  from  husbandry — 
plowing,  sowing  and  reaping — are  plain,  conveying  the  sentiment 
that  God's  providential  retributions  are  uniform  and  ceaseless. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    IV.  35 

No  human  power  can  withstand — no  human  skill  evade — this  law 
of  retribution  upon  the  guilty. 

10.  The  roaring  of  the  lion,  and  the  voice  of  the  fierce 
liou,  and  the  teeth  of  the  young  lions,  are  broken. 

11.  The  old  lion  perisheth  for  luck  of  prey,  and  the  stout 
lion's  whelps  are  scattered  abroad. 

These  allusions  to  the  lion  can  have  no  other  application  here 
save  this — that  no  lion-like  power  or  cunning  can  withstand  the 
march  and  the  sweep  of  God's  agencies  in  providence  for  retribu- 
tion upon  guilty  men. 

12.  Now  a  thing  was  secretly  brought  to  me,  and  mine 
ear  received  a  little  thereof. 

13.  In  thoughts  from  the  visions  of  the  night,  Avhen  deep 
sleep  falleth  on  men, 

14.  Fear  came  upon  me,  and  trembling,  which  made  all 
my  bones  to  shake. 

Here  Eliphaz  relates  the  revelations  which  God  had  given  to 
him  in  a  vision. — "  Now  a  thing"  (better  a  tcord)  came  stealthily, 
or  more  literally — stole  silently  upon  me,  and  mine  ear  caught  the 
whisper  thereof. — In  those  early  ages,  perhaps  more  frequently 
than  in  later  times,  God  revealed  himself  to  men  in  dreams. '^ 
Sometimes  these  shaded  off  into  what  are  distinctively  called 
"  visions  "  as  having  more  or  less  of  a  prophetic  character.  What- 
ever may  be  the  true  view  of  the  normal  philosophy  of  dreams, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  God  has  power  to  interpose  a  special 
agency  and  does  use  them  for  purposes  of  moral  instruction,  and, 
more  often  still,  of  pure  moral  impression. 

15.  Then  a  spirit  passed  before  my  face ;  the  hair  of  my 
flesh  stood  up : 

16.  It  stood  still,  but  I  could  not  discern  the  form  thereof: 
an  image  was  before  mine  eyes,  tliere  was  silence,  and  I  heard 
a  voice,  saying, 

17.  Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than  God?  shall  a  man 
be  more  pure  than  his  Maker  ? 

18.  Behold,  he  put  no  trust  in  his  servants;  and  his 
angels  he  charged  with  folly  : 

19.  How  muck  less  in  them  that 'dwell  in  houses  of  clay, 
whose  foundation  is  in  the  dust,  iiMch  are  crushed  before 
the  moth  ? 

One  in  sleep  might  have  a  sense  that  a  spirit  had  come  and  was 
passing,  but  no  mortal  eye  could  discern  the  form  thereof.  Such 
were  the  impressions  of  Eliphaz.  The  voice  heard,  the  words 
whispered  so  gently,  were  the  externals  of  this  revelation. — Shall 
man  assume  to  be  more  just  than  God?  is  probably  the  sense,  this 
being  at  once  the  more  obvious  and  the  more  usual  sense  of  the 


36  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    IV. 

Hebrew  ■words,  and  also  the  very  sin  of  which  (in  the  view  of 
Eliphaz)  Job  was  guilty ;  for  in  tacitly  impugning  the  justice  of 
God  in  the  afflictions  sent  upon  himself,  he  assumed  to'  be  more 
just  than  his  Maker — the  providential  Disposer  of  events  and  the 

Author  of  the  inflictions  upon  Job. Yet  some  critics  prefer  the 

sense — Shall  mortal  man  be  justified  by  God — be  accounted  just  in 
the  presence  of  God  and  in  his  perfect  eye  ?  But  this  sense  seems 
less  pertinent  in  the  present  case  and  comes  less  naturally  from 
the  original  words. — The  point  is  enforced  by  reference  to  the 
holy  ones  before  his  throne — his  servants — i.  e.,  his  angels — these 
words  being  equivalent  names  for  the  same  class  of  beings.  God 
does  not  confide  in  them  as  his  counselors,  but  imputes  to  them 
folly  in  the  sense  of  a  wisdom  all  inferior  to  his  own — so  thrown 
into  the  shade  by  the  surpassing  glory  of  his  wisdom  that  it  seems 
as  darkness  itself    The  course  of  thought  here  does  not  require  or 

even  justify  giving  the  sense  of  sin  to  this  word  "folly." How 

much  less  will  God  trust,  and  how  much  more  will  he  charge  with 
folly  those  that  dwell,  not  in  immortal  bodies,  nor  in  ctherial 
forms,  but  in  houses  of  clay,  etc. — "  Crushed  before  the  moth  " — 
has  been  interpreted  variously : — crushed  by  the  moth  ;  or  as  the 
moth  is  crushed ;  or  as  the  moth  crushes — destroys  the  garments 
which  it  consumes.  The  latter"  can  not  be  the  sense  of  the  Heb. 
words.  Of  the  two  former,  the  second  is  best — as  the  moth  is 
crushed,  so  easily  does  human  life  go  out;  so  weak  and  frail  is 
mortal  man.* 

20.  Tliey  are  destroyed  from  morning  to  evening;  thoy 
perish  for  ever  without  any  regarding  it. 

21.  Doth  not  their  excellency  ^vhich  is  in  them  go  away? 
they  die,  even  without  wisdom. 

This  is  in  the  same  line  of  thought,  continuing  and  closing  the 

words   brought   to   his    ear  by  the  revealing  Spirit. From  a 

morning  to  an  evening  the  whole  woi'k  is  done ;  within  a  single 
day,  they  are  beaten  in  pieces ;  they  perish  forever,  no  one  regard- 
ing— so  suddenly  men  scarcely  take  note  of  it  or  get  their  mind 
upon  it.  Gone  forever,  they  return  to  their  earthly  home  no 
moi'e. The  Heb.  word  for  excellence  f  illustrates  the  uncer- 
tainties of  criticism,  some  applying  it  to  the  tent-cord;  others 
.  from  this  figure  to  the  life-cord  of  man ;  and  yet  others  giving 
it  the  sense — whatever  is  best,  super-excellent.  I  prefer  the 
latter  here,  and  take  the  phrase  to  mean  that  the  very  best  things 
of  human  life,  its  dignities,  honors,  acquirements — all  pass  sud- 
denly away,  going  as  when  the  nomadic  troop  strike  their  tents 

and  are  gone.     This  figure  lies  in  the  verb  for  going  away. So 

they  die  and  not  in  wisdom.     This  greatest,  best  of  all  human  ac- 

"••■  The  original  seems  not  very  explicit,  the  literal  rendering  being 
this  :  Whom  destroyers  crush  in  the  presence  of,  at  the  face  of,  the 
moth.  But  this  phrase  may  have  the  sense — after  the  manner  of — and 
this  I  accept  as  the  sense  here. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  V.  37 

quisltions,  they  miss,  and  die  without  it. All  these  points  of 

human  frailty  are  grouped  here  to  give  force  to  the  idea  that  such 
a  man  so  frail,  so  short-lived,  of  life  so  uncertain,  whose  best  qual- 
ities are  held  by  a  tenure  so  slender — should  not  presume  to  lift 
himself  above  his  Maker,  or  match  his  sense  of  justice  against 
God's! 


CHATTER   V. 

Conclusion  of  EUpliaz^ s  first  sj'icech. 

1.  Call  now,  if  tliere  be  any  that  will  answer  thee ;  and  to 
which  of  the  saints  wilt  thou  turn  ? 

Summon  your  witnesses,  (Eliphaz  would  say  to  Job)  ;  invoke 
the  testimony  and  the  aid  for  your  cause  of  good  beings — all  whom 
you  will  or  can.  I  have  brought  forward  the  testimony  of  the  spirit 
whose  whispers  I  caught  with  my  ear  in  a  night-vision.  Any  re- 
butting testimony  you  may  have  is  now  in  order. 

2.  For  wrath  killeth  the  foolish  man,  and  envy  sla3^eth 
the  silly  one, 

3.  I  have  seen  the  foolish  taking  root :  but  suddenly  I 
cursed  his  habitation, 

4.  His  children  are  far  from  safety,  and  they  are  crushed 
in  the  gate,  neither  is  there  any  to  deliver  them, 

5.  Whose  harvest  the  hungry  eateth  up,  and  taketh  it 
even  out  of  the  thorns,  and  the  robber  swalloweth  up  their 
substance. 

Testimony  of  the  good  against  my  positions  you  will  scarcely 
find — "for"  these  facts  of  God's  providence  are  patent  and  incon- 
trovertible ;  viz.:  that  wrath  killeth  the  foolish  (wicked)  man. 
His  own  wickedness  will  surely  work  his  destruction.  It  always 
does.  I  have  seen  it.  The  speaker  makes  the  word  /  emphatic, 
and  appeals  here  to  his  own  personal  observation.  I  have  seen 
the  wicked  taking  root — starting  well  in  life  as  if  they  would  make 
a  tall,  strong  and  enduring  growth — i.  e.,  a  prosperous  life;  but 
suddenly  I  cursed  his  dwelling-place — probably  in  the  sense  of 
declaring  it  to  be  accursed  rather  than  of  imprecating   a  curse 

upon  it.     I  did  so  for  I  saw  that  God's  wrath  lay  upon  it. "  His 

children  are  oppressed  in  the  gate" — the  place  of  civil  tribunals.' 
Their  harvest  the  hungry  thief  or  robber  devours,  seizing  upon 
it  despite  of  the  thorn  hedge  which  the  owner  raised  for  its  pro- 
tection.— Not  the  "robber  but  rather  the  snare  is  gaping  for 
their  wealth.  So  the  accumulations  of  the  wicked  man  are  swept 
away. 


38  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. CHAP.  V. 

6.  Although  affliction  cometh  not  forth  of  the  dust,  neither 
doth  trouble  spring  out  of  the  ground  ; 

7.  Yet  man  is  born  unto  trouble,  as  the  sparks  fly  upward. 
The    relations    of    thought    expressed    in     our    English    by 

"although"  and  "yet"  are  neither  apposite  to  the  course  of  ar- 
gument here,  nor  are  they  in  the  original,  where  in  both  cases 
we  have  the  common  Ileb.  word  "For."  '■■  I  would  therefore 
paraphrase  thus:  Wicked  men  will  certainly  be  stripped  of  their 
wealth — "For"  (first  word  of  v.  6)  "evil,  calamity,  does  not  come 
up  out  of  the  ground,"  but  from  the  hand  of  the  Great  Moral 
Ruler;  "for"  (v.  7)  "man  is  born  to  trouble;"  calamity  is  as 
common  and  as  much  a  thing  of  natural  course  as  sin,  and  for  the 
same  reason.  Because  this  is  a  sinning  world,  it  is  also  a  suffer- 
ing world,  and  under    the  rule  of  a   righteous  God,  can  not  be 

otherwise. To  show  yet  more  clearly  that  our  English  version 

misses  the  real  argument,  let  it  be  considered  that  the  proposition 
— affliction  does  not  come  up  from  the  ground  as  trees  do,  must 
really  intend  its  opposite,  viz.,  it  does  come  from  God's  band.  But 
to  say  that  aWiovgh  affliction  comes  from  God,  yet  man  is  born  to 
trouble — is  to  talk  without  meaning.  Really  the  only  reason  why 
man  is  born  to  trouble  is  that  he  is  born  into  a  sinning  world,  in 
which  suffering  and  sin  are  in  more  senses  than  one  correlated, 
partly  as  an  antidote;  partly  as  a  just  retribution,  and  perhaps 
yet  more  as  a  premonition  of  a  coming  retribution  that  is  to  be 
perfect.     Hence  man  is  born  to  trouble  because  as  a  race  he  is 

born  to  sin. Sinful  man   drifts  toward  suffering,  calamity,  as 

sparks  naturally  rise  upward — this  result  being  natural  to  him 
in  the  sense  of  following  a  uniform  law  of  God's  providential  ad- 
ministration. 

8.  I  would  seek  unto  God,  and  unto  God  would  I  commit 
my  cause  : 

9.  Which  doeth  great  things  and  unsearchable  ;  marvel- 
ous things  without  number : 

10.  Who  giveth  rain  ujwn  the  earth,  and  sendeth  waters 
upon  the  fields  : 

11.  To  set  up  on  high  those  that  be  low  ;  that  those  which 
mourn  may  be  exalted  to  safety. 

I  can  readily  tell  you  what  I  would  do,  were  I  in  your  case. 
(The  speaker  makes  the  word  /  emphatic).  1  would  go  at  once 
to  God  and  commit  my  cause  to  him.  He  has  done  so  many 
good  things — has  so  constantly  opened  his  great  hand  to  bless 
his  creatures — it  must  be  the  best  possible  thing  for  one  in  such 
afflictions  as  yours  to  hasten  at  once  to  his  blessed  feet  for  help. 

The  reader  will  notice  that  Eliphaz  finds  his  light  of  God  in 

nature — not  in  a  written  revelation;  in  God's  great  works  of 
goodness  in  the  natural  world,  and  not  in  any  revealed  promise, 

*  O 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.    V.  39 

In  his  viow  God  shapes  his  providences  toAvard  men  to  exalt  the 
lowly  and  the  humble  mourner. 

12.  He  disappointetli  the  devices  of  the  crafty,  so  that 
their  hands  can  not  perform  their  enterprise. 

13.  He  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness  :  and  the 
counsel  of  the  froward  is  carried  headlong. 

14.  They  meet  Avith  darkness  in  the  day-time,  and  grope 
in  the  noonday  as  in  the  night. 

The    same    Providence    blesses    the  virtuous  and   abases   the 

vicious. "  Disappointetli,"  would  be  better  put  breaketh. 

The  counsels  of  the  cunning  are  made  hasty,  rash,  so  that  they 
rush  upon  their  own  destruction.  God  sees  further  than  they. 
Daylight  is  not  light  to  them.  They  run  foul  of  darkness  despite 
of  the  sun,  and  grope  after  light  at  noon  as  if  it  were  midnight 
— which  puts  forcibly  God's  w^ays  to  bafHe  the  wisest  schemes  of 
wickedly  designing  men.  See  the  figure — groping  at  noon-day — 
moi-e  fully  drawn  out,  Deut.  28:  29. 

15.  But  he  saveth  the  poor  from  the  sword,  from  their 
moutli,  and  from  the  hand  of  the  mighty. 

16.  So  the  poor  hath  hope,  and  iniquity  stoppeth  her 
mouth. 

The  Hebrew  word  translated,  "  from  the  sword,"  admits  of  a 
bettor  derivation  which  makes  it  a  participle,*  with  the  sense — 
one  made  desolate — the  victim  of  oppression.  The  word  "poor" 
belongs  to  the  last  clause.  The  poetic  parallelism  is  thus  made 
complete  : — So  he  saves  the  victim  (of  wrong)  from  their  mouth, 
and  the  poor  from  the  hand  of  the  strong. 

17.  Behold,  happy  is  the  man  whom  God  correcteth  : 
therefore  despise  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the  Almighty  : 

18.  For  he  maketh  sore,  and  bindeth  up:  he  woundeth, 
and  his  hands  make  whole. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  near  Eliphaz  comes  to  the  great 
doctrine  of  Prov.  3:  11,  12  and  of  the  New  Testament  (Heb. 
12:  5,  6) — viz.,  that  God  sends  suffering  for  chastisement  and; 
correction — for  the  moral  good  of  the  sufferer,  so  that  such  in- 
flictions should  by  no  means  be  resented  ("despised") — should 
never  be  considered  hard,  severe,  unreasonable.  For,  the 
wounds  which  God  makes,  he  is  always  ready  to  heal  speedily,  if 
only  the  sufferer  repents  and  'accepts  tlie  chastisement  submis- 
sively.  The    hard   point  in  the  doctrine  of  ipliphaz  was  that 

these  inflictions  always  presupposed  specially  great  sins.  This 
was  his  fundamental  mistake. 

19.  He  shall  deliver  thee  in  six  troubles :  yea,  in  seven 
there  shall  no  evil  touch  thee. 

*znnD 


40  THE    BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP.    V. 

20.  lu  famine  lie  shall  redeem  tliee  from  death  :  and  in 
war  from  the  power  of  the  sword. 

21.  Thou  shalt  be  hid  from  the  scourge  of  the  tongue: 
neither  shalt  thou  be  afraid  of  destruction  Avhen  it  cometh. 

22.  At  destruction  and  famine  thou  shalt  laugh :  neither 
shalt  thou  be  afraid  of  the  beasts  of  the  earth. 

23.  For  thou  shalt  be  in  league  with  the  stones  of  the 
field  :  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  be  at  peace  with  thee. 

Such  prosperity  trod  would  surely  give  the  penitent  whom  his 
afflictions  had  brought  to  a  better  mind.     Therefore  let  Job  be 

moved  to  repent  of  his  great  sins. Naturally  he  specifies  those 

dangers  which  wei'e  common  in  the  life  of  the  desert — such  as 
wild  beasts,  and  the  sharp  stones  which  subjected  whoever  walked 
with  bare  feet,  to  bad  wounds.  "  In  league  with  the  stones  of 
the  field,"  had  therefore  in  their  life  a  meaning  not  to  be 
despised. 

24.  And  thou  shalt  know  that  thy  tabernacle  shall  he  in 
peace  ;  and  thou  shalt  visit  thy  habitation,  and  shalt  not  sin. 

The  word  for  "  habitation  "  is  not  a  tent  for  man  but  a  fold  for 
his  flocks.  He  shall  visit  this  to  see  that  all  are  there,  and  shall 
miss  none — the  sense  of  the  word  translated — "  shall  not  sin." 
This  well  known  Heb.  word*  which  primarily  means  to  miss,  to 
miss  the  mark — comes  by  a  secondary  sense  to  mean  that  worst 
■^  mistake  of  all  which  the  sinner  makes  who  always  fails  ulti- 
mately of  the  good  he  seeks  in  sin. 

25.  Thou  shalt  know  also  that  thy  seed  shall  he  great,  and 
thine  offspring  as  the  grass  of  the  earth. 

26.  Thou  shalt  come  to  tluj  grave  in  a  full  age,  like  as  a 
shock  of  corn  cometh  in  his  season. 

27.  Lo  this,  we  have  searched  it,  so  it  is;  hear  it,  and 
know  thou  it  for  thy  good. 

To  crown  all,  the  penitent  sufierer,  (e.  g.,  Job)  would  have  the 
joy  of  a  numerous  and  precious  posterity  (although  just  then 
made  childless  by  terrible  bereavement),  and  would  himself  come 
to  his  grave  in  a  ripe  old  age  as  the  heavy  corn  sheaf  is  gathered 

in  its  time. All  this  Eliphaz  declares  to  be  the  result  of  his 

personal  observations,  and  is  therefore  more  sure  of  it.  So  he 
begs  Job  to  believe  and  accept  it,  for  his  own  good. 

Thus  endeth  the  first  lesson  of  these  well  meaning  but  not 
altogether  well  taught  friends.  Its  tone  is  on  the  whole  calm  if 
we  judge  of  it  from  the  standpoint  of  his  theory.  The  root  of 
his  error  lay  in  his  assumption  that  .Tob  must  be  in  heart  a  hypo- 
crite— a  very  great  sinner.  Assuming  that  suffering  sent  from 
God  must  accurately,  measure  the  sin  of  the  sufferer,  how  could 
he  infer  any  thing  less  or  else  than  this  ? 


THE   BOOK   OF    JOB. — CIIAr.    Vl.  41 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Job  replies  to  ElipTiaz. 

1.  But  Job  answered  and  said, 

2.  Oh  that  my  grief  were  .thoroughly  weighed,  and  my 
cahimity  laid  in  the  balances  together ! 

3.  For  now  it  would  be  heavier  than  the  sand  of  the  sea : 
therefore,  my  Avords  are  swallowed  up. 

The  starting  point  in  JolVs  reply  is  the  greatness  of  his  grief, 
Avbich  he  feels  that  his  friends  have  liy  no  means  fully  appreciated, 

and  hence  have  been  strangely  wantuig  in  sympathy. "  Oh  that 

my  griefs  were  thoroughly  Aveighed  ",  some  explain  as  a  wish  that 
grief  were  a  thing  to  be  weighed  so  as  to  test  precisely  its  real 
severity.  But  it  falls  in  better  with  the  case  in  hand  to  regard  it 
as  a  wish  that  these  friends  could  and  would  estimate  it  justly. 
This  must  be  his  ultimate  meaning,  for  this  is  the  thing  he  so 

ardently   desired. It  becomes   a  question   whether    the  word 

"together"  means  all  his  individual  sorrows,  put  in  and  weighed 
in  one  mass;  or,  taking  "calamity"  in  the  sense  of  complaint, 
making  this  the  ultimate  meaning:  Oh  that  my  griefs  might  be 
put  in  one  scale  and  my  complaints  in  the  opposite,  to  see  if  the 
complaints  outweigh  the  griefs.  The  latter  construction  might  be 
admissible  possibly  if  the  word  for  calamity  would  bear  the 
meaning  complaint — but  it  can  not.  JMoreover,  the  point  at  issue 
is  not  whether  Job  complains  overmuch,  beyond  what  such  suffer- 
ings justify;  but  whether  his  sufferings  are  or  are  not  the  exact 

index   of    his  sins. If   my  griefs   were    thoroughly  weighed, 

they  would  be  heavier  than  the  sands  of  the  sea — this  strong  ex- 
pression being  oriental    in  character.     But  Job    manifestly  felt 

that  no    figures   could   exaggerate  his  griefs. Therefore  have 

my  words  been  rash,  extreme.     I  am  sensible  of  the   fact    that 

they  have   been  rash,  and  this  is   my   apology. Our   English 

"swallowed  up"  derives  the  Hebrew  Avord  from  a  root  which  is 
now  generally  rejected.*  Our  English  word  would  seem  to 
mean — ^ly  words  have  gone  for  nothing,  have  proved  utterly 
worthless  ;  but  this  makes  no  sense  pertinent  to  the  context  or 
the  case. 

4.  For  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty  are  within  me,  the 
poison  Avhereof  drinketh  up  my  spirit :  the  terrors  of  God 
do  set  themselves  in  array  against  me. 

That  which  made  Job's  sufferings  so  appalling  and  unen- 
durable was  the  manifest  hand  of  God  in  them.  How  could  he 
bear  this?    The  poison  of  those  ari'ows  when  seen  coming  from 

(*Viz.,  from  V^';  but  modern  critics  from  "^.i'^-) 


42  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    VI. 

the  hand  of  the  Almighty,  drank  up  his  spirits;  swallowed  up 
all  his  manly  courage,  all  his  endurance.  The  terrors  of  God  all 
in  array  against  him  as  for  battle,  broke  down  his  very  soul. 

5.  Doth  the  wild  ass  bray  when  he  hath  grass?  or  loweth 
the  ox  over  his  fodder  ? 

6.  Can  that  which  is  unsavory  be  eaten  without  salt  ?  or 
is  there  any  taste  in  the  white  of  an  egg? 

7.  The  things  that  my  soul  refused  to  touch  are  as  my 
sorrowful  meat. 

On  these  verses  the  work  of  the  interpreter  (as  usual)  is  two- 
fold :  (a)  To  determine  precisely  what  the  speaker  says ;  to  reach 
the  exact  sense  of  his  several  words;  and  (b)  To  ascertain  their 

intended  application  and  bearing  in  his  argument. Under  the 

first  head  critics  have  differed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  very  un- 
usual Hebrew  word  translated  "the  white  of  an  egg" — some 
giving  it  the  sense  of  jnirslain  broth — a  most  tasteless,  insipid 
herb.  The  older  authorities,  e.  g.  the  Targums  and  the  Rabbins, 
give  the  former.  The  Arabic  ti'anslators  have  been  supposed  to 
ftivor  the  latter.     This  point,  however,  is  of  small  consequence. 

As  to  the  second  and  far  more  vital  question — What  is  the 

bearing  of  these  verses  upon  Job's  argument?  I  understand  his 
thought  to  be  of  this  sort: — All  sentient  beings,  even  the  lower 
animals,  have  a  voice  for  their  sorrows.  They  never  moan  and 
cry  save  from  a  sense  of  suffering  and  want.  Think  not  of  me 
that  I  should  pour  forth  Availings  of  sorrow,  if  there  were  no  sor- 
row in  my  soul.  These  wails  are  as  really  the  cries  of  my  na- 
ture as  the  call  of  the  wild  ass  or  the  ox  for  food  in  his  hunger. 

From  this  thought,  .Job   passes  easily  to  speak  (v.  6)  of  his 

friends  as  professing  or  attempting  to  minister  to  his  hunger  by 
giving  him  tasteless  or  insipid  food;  or,  (as  in  v.  7)  things  that 
offend  his  stomach,  and  bring  on  nausea  and  vomiting.  The 
consolations  they  offer  to  him  in  his  heart-hunger  turn  his 
stomach  to  loathing.  A  better  translation  of  v.  7  is  that  of 
Conant: — "My  soul  refuses  to  touch!  They  are  as  food  that  I 
loathe  "  !  He  says  this  of  the  food  offered  him  by  his  friends 
when  his  nature  cries  like  that  of  the  ox  for  relief  from  gnawing 
pain. 

8.  Oh  that  I  might  have  my  request ;  and  that  God  would 
grant  me  the  thing  that  I  long  for ! 

9.  Even  that  it  would  please  God  to  destroy  me ;  that  he 
would  let  loose  his  hand,  and  cut  me  oft'! 

10.  Then  should  I  yet  have  comfort;  yea,  I  would  harden 
myself  in  sorrow ;  let  him  not  spare ;  for  I  have  not  con- 
cealed the  words  of  the  Holy  One. 

These  deeply  impassioned  utterances  were  provoked  by  a  sense 
of  the  severity  of  his  friends.  It  is  not  strange  that  Job's  heart 
was  torn  and  bleeding,  nor  that  he  should   be  tempted  to  look 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.    VI.  43 

wishfully  to  death  for  relief — The  English  translation  of  v.  10 
imputes  to  Job  a  spirit  of  hardihood  and  daring  toward  God  of 
which  his  real  words  are  innocent  and  for  which  they  are  not 
responsible.  Job  did  not  mean  to  say  that  he  would  harden  his 
lieart  under  liis  griefs,  nor  did  he  challenge  the  Almighty  to  lay 
on  as  he  would  and  not  spare  !  The  more  accurate  translation  of 
his  words  will  much  relieve  his  utterances  of  these  extreme  senti- 
ments— thus  :  If  God  were  to  cut  short  my  life,  it  should  still  be 
my  comfort,  and  I  would  exult,  even  under  unsparing  agony,  that 
1  have  not  denied  the  words  of  the  Holy  One. — A  consciousness 
of  having  honored  the  known  words  of  his  ]\Iaker  and  sought  to 
walk  before  him  accordingly  should  be  more  than  mere  comfort — 
should  be  even  his  exultant  joy  under  the  bitterest  of  mortal 
agonies.  The  sense — agony  that  does  not  or  will  not  spare 
(instead  of  "Let  him  not  spare")  is  certainly  admissible.  It 
being  admitted,  we  need  not  understand  Job  as  having  his  thought 
specially  upon  God — much  less,  as  challenging  him  to  inflict  tor- 
ture without  mercy  ! — And  the  sense  "  harden  myself"  for  the  Heb. 
verb®  so  rendered  here  in  our  version,  finds  not  the  least  support 
in  the  modern  Heb.  Lexicons  of  Gesenius  or  of  Fuerst.  In  extant 
Hebrew  it  occurs  here  only;  but  its  Arabic  analogies  determine 
its  meaning — to  leap  up,  to  bound  with  exultation. — In  v.  9  the 
conception  is  that  God's  firm  hand  upon  him  sustains  his  life,  so 
that  loosing  that  hand  would  be  to  cut  short  his  life  in  death. 

11.  What  is  my  strength,  that  I  should  hope  ?  And  what 
is  mine  end,  that  I  sliould  prolong  my  life  ? 

12.  Is  my  strength  the  strength  of  stones?  or  is  my  flesh 
of  brass  ? 

13.  Is  not  my  help  in  me?  and  is  wisdom  driven  quite 
from  me  ? 

14.  To  him  that  is  afflicted,  pity  should  be  shelved  from  his 
friend ;  but  he  forsaketh  the  fear  of  the  Almighty. 

In  vs.  13,  14,  we  must  modify  our  Eng.  version  matferially; 
thus  (v.  13)  "Is  there  not  an  absence — a  negation — of  all  help  in 
myself?  Is  not  recovery  (a  reinstatement  in  my  former  well- 
being)  quite  driven  from  me?" — In  v.  14,  "Kindness  is  due  from 
his  friend  to  one  broken  down,"  i.  e  ,  in  hope  and  strength,  and 
ready  to  forsake  the  fear  of  the  Almighty;  tempted,  and  almost 
on  the  verge  of  such  forsaking  of  God.  Such  a  man,  if  he  has  a 
friend  on  earth,  needs  and  has  a  right  to  claim  his  tenderest  sym- 
pathy. Ah  indeed,  most  truly!  But  Job  goes  on  from  this  point 
to  charge  his  friends,  then  present,  with  utterly  disappointing,  his 
reasonable  expectations  in  this  respect. 

In  v.  11,  12,  Job  says  that  his  endurance  is  almost  exhausted. 
Physically  he  can  bear  but  little  more;  and  probably  he  would 
say  that,  morally,  spiritually,  his  soul  was  quivering  on  the  verge 
of  utter  prostration.     These  points  in  their  relation  to  what  pre- 


44  THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. —CHAP.    VI. 

cedes  are  put  as  reasons  Avhy  he  looks  to  death  for  relief. — Advanc- 
ing in  his  line  of  thought,  he  suggests  that  his  extremity  of 
•w'eakness  and  need  ought  to  draw  forth  in  his  behalf  the  deep 
sympathy  of  his  friends;  but,  alas!  this  fails  him! 

15.  My  brethren  have  dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook,  and  as 
the  stream  of  brooks  they  pass  away ; 

16.  Which  are  blackish  by  reason  of  the  ice,  and  wherein 
the  snow  is  hid  : 

17.  What  time  they  wax  warm,  they  vanish:  when  it  is 
hot,  they  are  consumed  out  of  their  place. 

My  brethren  fiiil  me  and  disappoint  my  hopes  as  the  streams 
of  the  desert  disappoint  the  caravans  and  leave  them  to  perish  for 
lack  of  water. — Some  of  the  phrases  in  this  passage  should  have 
an  improved  translation;  thus— (last  clause  of  v.  15)  "As  the 
valley-streams  which  themselves  pass  away:"  not  "they"  (my 
brethren)  "  pass  away."  Streams  that  are  blackish,  turbid,  when 
the  ice  and  snow  from  the  mountains  swell  them  to  torrents;  but 
when  they  have  thus  poured  themselves  oif  in  floods — the  high 
waters  of  spring — they  suddenly  fail.  Not — "when  they  wax 
warm" — but  when  they  have  poured  themselves  off  rapidly  in 
floods — then  they  cease. to  run.  The  point  of  comparison  is,  they 
lack  stability,  permanence.  One  spring  freshet — thou,  through  all 
the  hot  summer,  dry. 

18.  The  paths  of  their  way  are  turned  aside ;  they  go  to 
nothing,  and  perish. 

19.  The  troops  of  Tema  looked,  the  companies  of  Sheba 
waited  for  them. 

20.  They  were  confounded  because  they  had  hoped ;  they 
came  thither,  and  Avere  ashamed. 

Here  the  Eng.  version  erroneously  translates  the  same  Heb. 
word  "paths"  in  v.  18,  and  "troops  '  in  v.  19, — whereas  in  both 
cases  the  sense  is  caravans,  traveling  companies,  crossing  the 
Arabian  deserts. .  They  turn  from  their  direct  course  to  strike 
and  follow  up  these  old  water  channels  ;  they  march  up  into  utter 
wastes,  waterless  and  desolate — and  there  perish.  These  caravans 
of  Tema  and  Sheba  looked  for  water  there  with  expectation  and 
hope,  but  were  bitterly  put  to  shame  and  confounded  by  reason  of 
such  trust  and  its  utter  failure  in  their  great  need.  So  Job's  hopes 
of  sympathy  and  moral  succor  from  his  friends  had  left  him  to 
shame  and  confusion. 

21.  For  now  ye  are  nothing ;  ye  see  vnj  casting  down,  and 
are  afraid. 

22.  Did  I  say,  Bring  unto  nie  ?  or,  Give  a  reward  for  me 
of  your  substance  ? 

23.  Or,  Deliver  me  from  the  enemy's  hand  ?  or,  Kedeem 
me  from  the  hand  of  the  mighty  ? 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  VI.  45 

For  now  ye  too,  like  these  desert-streams,  have  become  nothing, 
"Ye  see  a  terror" — a  case  of  suffering  that  shocks  and  amazes: 
and  ye  seem  to  shrink  back  in  dismay.  But  look  again  into  my 
case.  Consider  what  I  am  asking  of  you.  Is  it  your  wealth,  as 
if  to  supply  the  loss  of  mine  ?  Or  is  it  deliverance  from  some 
threatened  violence  ?     No  such  thing  at  all. 

24.  Teach  me,  aud  I  will  hold  my  tongue :  and  cause  mo 
to  understand  wherein  I  have  erred. 

25.  How  forcible  are  right  words  !  but  what  doth  your 
arguing  reprove  ? 

26.  Do  ye  imagine  to  reprove  words,  and  the  speeches  of 
one  that  is  desperate,  ivhich  are  as  wind  ? 

27.  Yea,  ye  overwhelm  the  fatherless,  and  ye  dig  a  j^it  for 
your  friend. 

The  thing  I  do  want  and  do  ask  of  you,  is  moral  counsel,  real 
advice.     Show  me  wherein  I  have  erred.     Set  me  right  as  toward 

God.     Such  fitting  words  would  bo  above  all  price. But  what 

does  your  upbraiding  prove,  and  what  does  it  avail  ?  Do  ye  pro- 
pose to  rebuke  my  words  when  ye  should  know  that  the  words  of 
one  driven  to  desperation  are  only  as  the  wind? — Job  thinks  they 
should  not  criticise  his  rash  utterances  so  severely,  vrhich  indeed 
had  been  forced  from  his  lips  by  his  terrible  sufferings  and  by 
being  brought  so  nigh  to  utter  despair.  Ye  might  as  well  cast 
lots  for  orphans — to  part  them  among  you  as  slaves — or  dig  a  pit- 
fall for  your  friend. 1  understand 'Job  to  compare  the  cruel, 

heartless  course  of  his  friends  toward  himself  with  these  flagrant 
violations  of  friendship  and  right. 

28.  Now  therefore  be  content,  look  upon  me :  for  it  is  evi- 
dent unto  you  if  I  lie. 

29.  Return,  I  pray  you,  let  it  not  be  iniquity;  yea,  return 
again,  my  righteousness  is  in  it. 

30.  Is  there  iniquity  in  my  tongue  ?  can  not  my  taste  di.s- 
cern  perverse  things? 

Job  moves  for  a  reconsideration  of  his  case. "And  now,  con- 
sent;" yield  to  my  request;  look  upon  me  in  my  case  once  more, 
for  I  will  not  speak  falsely  to  your  face.  (I  will  deal  honestly  : 
ah,  I  am  too  near  my  grave  to  deal  otherwise!)  Return,  I  pray; 
let  there  be  no  perverse  views,  nothing  false  or  misconceived. 
Yea,  return ;  for  yet  my  righteousness  is  in  it — which  I  take  to 
mean — my  uprightness,  my  integrity,  is  in  the  case  and  must  yet 

appear. Have   I  said  aught  that  was  false  ?     Can  ye  suppose 

1   have   lost  my  moral  sense  so  that  I  can  can  not  discriminate 

right   from  wrong? The  views    they  had   taken  of  his   case 

seemed  to  Job  to  assume  that  his  words  were  false  and  his  moral 
sentiments  perverse.  He  begs  them  to  reconsider  the  case  and 
withdraw  these  tacit  or  avowed  implications. 


46  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  VII. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Conclusion  of  Job's  reply. 

Job  concludes  his  speech,  recounting  his  sorrows,  discoursing 
upon  the  shortness  of  human  life  and  especially  of  that  portion 
which  lay  yet  before  himself,  and  passionately,  not  to  say  com- 
plainingly,  entreats  that  God  would  lighten  his  too  heavy  hand, 
forgive  his  sins,  and  grant  him  yet  one  quiet,  peaceful  hour  before 
he  shall  go  hence. 

1.  Id  there  not  an  appointed  time  to  man  upon  earth?    are 
not  his  days  also  like  the  days  of  a  hireling  ? 
J    2.  As  a  servant  earnestly  desireth  the  shadow,  and  as  a 
hireling  looketh  for  the  reward  of  his  Avork  ; 

3.  So  am  I  made  to  possess  months  of  vanity,  and  weari- 
some nights  are  appointed  to  me. 

4.  AVhen  I  lie  down,  I  say.  When  shall  I  arise,  and  the 
night  be  gone  ?  and  I  am  full  of  tossings  to  and  fro  unto  the 
dawning  of  the  day. 

The  Heb.  word  for  "appointed  time"  is  used  often  of  a  term 
of  service  in  war;  also  of  the  designated  term  of  temple  service 
assigned  to  the  Levites.  So  man  has  a  very  limited  period  for 
his  life-service  on  this  earth.  As  the  servant  longs  for  the  fast 
lengthening  shadows  which  shortly  precede  sun-setting — his  sig- 
nal for  closing  a  weary  day's  toil, — so,  says  Job,  am  I  made  to  in- 
herit months  of  vanity — empty  of  all  good  and  full  of  pain  ;  nights 
also,  not  of  rest  in  sleep,  but  of  perpetual  tossings  because  of 
pain.  Ah,  how  true  to  the  experience  of  the  sick  sufferer,  saying 
as  he  lays  himself  down  to  court  sleep — "  When  shall  I  arise  and 
the  night  be  gone?" 

5.  My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms  and  clods  of  dust ;  my 
skin  is  broken,  and  become  loathsome. 

6.  IMy  days  are  sAvifter  than  a  Aveavei''s  shuttle,  and  are 
spent  without  hope. 

The  skin  disease  described  here  under  which  Job  was  suffer- 
ing was  very  unlike   the  modern   boil.     Fortunately  for  us  it  is 

unknown  to  human  experience  in  our  climate  and  country. 

"  Clothed  with  worms" — but  critics  differ  as  to  the  sense  here  of 
the  word  for  "  worms."  Some  say  roitenness  ;  others,  ulcers ; 
and  yet  others,  mold.  The  usual  sense  is  no  doubt,  loorms.  The 
phrase — "  clods  of  dust" — aims  to  give  its  resemblance.  Of  an 
ashy  color,  and  corrugated  with  ridges  and  lumps  as  if  it  were  a 

plowed  field    of  half  broken   clods. My  skin  cracks  and   dis- 

chai-ges  matter — which  indicates  somewhat  the  nature  of  his  dis- 
ease.  The  bitter  thing  in  these  swiftly  passing  days  was  that 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP  VII.  47 

they  came  and  went,  but  neither  found  in  him  nor  brought  to  him 
any  hope  of  relief. 

7.  O  remember  that  my  life  is  wind  ;  mine  eye  shall  no 
more  see  good. 

8.  The  eye  of  him  that  hath  seen  me  shall  see  me  no  more : 
thine  eyes  are  upon  me,  and  I  am  not. 

9.  As  the  cloud  is  consumed  and  vanisheth  away  ;  so  ho 
that  goeth  down  to  the  gi'ave  shall  come  up  no  more. 

10.  He  shall  return  no  more  to  his  house,  neither  shall 
his  place  know  him  any  more. 

O  remeinbcr  that  my  life  is  but  a  breath — so  soon  past  and 
gone  !  Here  again  we  see  Job  despairing  of  more  good  on  earth. 
Death  will  soon  take  him  hence — to  return  no  more.  Alas,  lie 
must  soon  be  missed  and  even  forgotten  amid  the  scenes  and 
surroundings  of  his  now  present  life.  Not  only  will  the  passing 
generations  of  men  cease  to  know  him ;  they  are  themselves 
moving  on  and  away  ; — but  even  the  old  localities — the  hills  and 
the  streams  he  once  frequented  and  loved,  and  with  Avhich  he 
seemed  to  hold  a  sort  of  heart-communion — even  they,  enduring 
as  they  are,  will  know  him  no  more  !  They  catch  the  glow  of 
his  eye,  the  pressure  of  his  step,  the  inspirations  of  his  presence 
— no  more  at  all  forever.  This  great  fact  pertaining  to  the  dead 
is  here  put  in  most  impressive,  memorable  words.  How  forcibly 
are  they  confirmed  by  all  human  experience  ! 

11.  Therefore  I  will  not  refrain  my  mouth  ;  I  will  speak 
in  the  anguish  of  my  spirit ;  I  Avill  complain  in  the  bitter- 
ness of  my  soul. 

12.  Am  I  a  sea,  or  a  whale,  that  thou  settest  a  watch 
over  me? 

13.  "When  I  say,  My  l^ed  shall  comfort  me,  my  couch  shall 
ease  my  complaint ; 

14.  Then  thou  scarest  me  with  dreams,  and  terrifiest  me 
through  visions : 

15.  So  that  my  soul  chooseth  strangling,  and  death  rather 
than  my  life. 

Xcft  "  therefore,"  which  the  original  by  no  means  admits,  but 
this: — "Also,    as  for  myself,  I   for    my  part,  will   not  shut  my 

mouth.     The  anguish  of   my  spirit    compels  me  to  sjieak." 

"Am  I  a  sea?" — unreliable,  uncertain,  boisterous — the  sea  being  a 
natural  emblem  of  pride,  fickleness,  instability. — —Or  am  I  a  sea- 
monster? — the  word  more  naturally  suggesting  the  great  sea-ser- 
pent than  the  whale. Am  I  in  character,  like  either  of  these, 

that  thou  shouldest  set  a  watch  over  me? V.    15,  last  clause, 

should  read — "My  soul  chooseth  death  rather  than  these  bones" — 
indicating  that  either  pain  in  them  or  emaciation  made  them 
prominent  to  his  thought. Frightful  dreams  by  night  and  in- 


48  THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.    VII. 

supportable  depression  of  spirits  by  day,  were  among  the  fruits 
of  this  terrible  disease.  Under  these  sufferings  and  horrors,  no 
■wonder  Job  should  choose  to  die  of  strangling  rather  than  live  on 
under  such  torture. 

16.  I  loathe  it;  I  would  not  live  alway  :  let  me  alone; 
for  my  days  are  vanity. 

17.  What  is  man,  that  thou  shouldest  magnify  him?  and 
that  thou  shouldest  set  thine  heart  upon  him  ? 

18.  And  that  thou  shouldest  visit  him  every  morning,  and 
try  him  every  moment  ? 

19.  How  long  Avilt  thou  not  depart  from  me,  nor  let  me 
alone  till  I  swallow  down  my  spittle  ? 

The  primary  sense  of  the  verb  translated  "  loathe"  is  to  umsfe 

awaij,  and  this  should  be  preferred  here. The   next  clause  is 

the  simple  future : — "  I  shaJl  not  live  alway." Therefore  desist 

fi'om  me  ;  leave  me  for  a  little  moment  at  peace  : — which  we  must 
understand  as  addressed  to  God.  For  my  days  are  a  breath  and 
this  only ;  therefore  let  me  have  a  few  moments  of  rest  before  I 

go  hence. Then   Job  falls  back  upon  his  own  insignificance 

and  littleness  as  a  reason  for  his  plea  that  God  would  withdraw 
his  sharp  eye  and  leave  him  for  the  moment  exempt  from  the 
horrors  of  such  a  sense  of  rebuke  and  divine  indignation.  What 
is  man  that  thou  shouldest  make  so  much  of  him,  set  thy  thought 
so  sharply  vipon  him,  visit  him  in  thy  watchfulness  every  morn- 
ing, try  him  with  such  sufferings  as  mine  every  moment?  How 
long  ere  thou  wilt  look  away  from  me ;  take  oiF  thine  eye  from 
me,  and  let  me  alone  till  I  can  take  my  breath — this  last  phrase  be- 
ing analogous  to  the  more  oriental  one — "  swallow  my  spittle." 

20.  I  have  sinned;  what  shall  I  do  unto  thee,  O  thou 
preserver  of  men  ?  why  hast  thou  set  me  as  a  mark  against 
thee,  so  that  I  am  a  burden  to  myself? 

21.  And  why  dost  thou  not  pardon  my  transgression,  and 
take  away  mine  iniquity  ?  for  now  shall  I  sleep  in  the  dust ; 
and  thou  shalt  seek  me  in  the  morning,  but  I  shall  not   be. 

Conant  translates — "If  I  sin,  what  do  I  unto  Thee  " — /.  e.,  of 
what  great  consequence  can  it  be  to  thee,  and  how  can  it  be  a 
reason  for  visiting  me  so  severely  ?  The  literal  and  proper  sense 
of  the  Heb.  words  is  put  in  our  English  version  :  "  I  have  sinned  ; 
what  shall  I  do    to  Thee?"     Yet    the  scope  of  thought  in    the 

Avoids  that  follow  favors  the  sense  given  by  Conant. Why  hast 

thou  made  me  thy  mark — the  target  for  thy  sharp  arrows — so 
making  me  a  burden  insupportable  to  myself?  The  underlying 
implication   here  is — Why  does  the  great  God  treat  me  so?  How 

shall  I  account  for  this  apparent  severity? -These  were  among 

the  rash  and  foolish  Avords  of  tliis  tried  and  impatient  sufferer,  for 
which,  when  he  came  to  see  God  better,  he  humbled  himself  and 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB, — CHAP.  VITI.  49 

repented  in  dust   and    ashes. "0  Thou   preserver    of    men," 

should  rather  be  read — O  Thou  observer  of  men — Thou  who 
dost  watch  so  closely,  so  sharply — for  such  is   here  the  course  of 

Job's  thought. Then,  with  far  less  humility  and  conscious  un- 

worthines.s  than  was  meet,  he  almost  impatiently  demands  that 
(lod  should  pardon  his  iniquities  and  should  do  it  soon,  for  he 
had  but  little  more  time  to  live,  and  soon  God  could  no  longer 
find  him  among  the  living  though  he  were  to  seek  never  so  ear- 
nestly. This  verb — to  seek — most  often  takes  the  secondary  sense 
— not  precisely  of  seeking  in  the  morning,  but  of  seeking  ear- 
nestly— this  earnestness  being  indicated  by  being  up  betimes  for 
it  in  the  morning. 

Thus  Job  allows  the  severity  of  his  sufferings  to  wring  from 
his  heart  and  to  force  through  his  lips  tliese  impassioned  com- 
jilaints  and  daring  implications  of  the  Great  God  !  No  wonder 
that  when  in  the  result  God  came  so  impressively  near  in  the 
glory  of  his  majesty.  Job  w^as  smitten  with  contrition  and  abased 
himself  in  the  dust!  That  ultimate  humiliation  and  confession, 
set  over  against  tliese  daring,  not  to  say  false  and  foul  charges 
against  Gud,  constitute  some  of  the  great  moral  lessons  of  this 
book. 


o-^^c 


^  CHAPTER    VIII. 

Bildad  speaks  in  his  tnrn. 

Bildad  the  second  disputant  comes  forward  in  this  chapter  with 
one  fundamental  doctrine,  viz.,  that  God's  administration  is  abso- 
lutely righteous  and  complete,  and  can  never  fall  below  this 
standard  even  in  the  present  world.  ITence  judgments  follow 
sins  and  are  graduated  to  the  enormity  of  the  sin  they  are  sent  to 
punish.  •  Job  therefore  must  be  a  great  sinner  inasmuch  as  he  is 
a  great  sufferer.  There  can  be  no  hope  for  him  save  in  repent- 
ance and  returning  to  God.  Bildad  appeals  to  history — to  the 
voice  of  all  the  fathers — for  proof  that  God  blesses  the  righteous, 
but  visits  judgment  on  the  wicked. 

1.  Then  an-sw^ered  Bildad  the  Shuhitc,  and  said, 

2.  How'  long  wilt  thou  speak  these  things  f  and  hoiu  long 
xhall  the  words  of  thy  mouth  be  like  a  strong  wind  ? 

It  is  the  human  nature  of  disputants  in  sharp  controversy  to 
indulge  in  retort  that  cuts  deep — as  here:  "the  words  of  thy 
mouth   a  strong  wind" — as  void   of  thought;  as    incessant   and 

tumultuous,  putting  sound  for  sense. In  Bildad,  this  was  at 

once  heartless  and  unreasonable.     We  marvel  that  he  could  so 
utterly  lack  sympathy  with  his  suffering  friend.     Ilis  philosophy 


50  THE   BOOK   OP   JOB. — CHAP.    VIII. 

of  the  case  impressed  him  so  strongly  that  Job  must  be  the  greatest 
of  sinners,  and  all  his  professed  piety  only  egregious  hypocrisy, 
that  his  heart  could  not  and  would  not  open  to  the  appeals  of 
sympathy  with  those  outbursts  of  impassioned  grief. 

3.  Doth  God  pervert  judgraeut?  or  doth  the  Almighty 
pervert  justice? 

This  lays  down  his  fundamental  doctrine  in  the  strongest 
form — that  of  a  question  which  assumes  its  point  as  above  all 
dispute  or  doubt — the  point  being  that  God  never  can  pervert  the 
right — never  can  siverve  from  inherent,  perfect  justice. 

Remarkably,  the  logic  of  the  doctrine  seems  to  be  an  inference 
from  God's  almightiness,  corresponding  to  the  argument  as  put 
by  Abraham  (Gen.  18:  25):  "Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
do  right"  ?  But  was  this  a  purely  logical  inference,  deducing  the 
rectitude  of  God  from  his  infinite  resources  of  power,  on  the 
principle  that  such  tl  God  can  have  no  conceivable  motive  for  in- 
iustice ;  or  was  it  rather  an  intuition  of  the  reason — that  the 
Supreme  God  must  be  perfect  in  goodness  and  therefore  in  justice 
as  truly  as  infinite  in  power  and  sway  over  his  own  universe? 

4.  K  thy  cliiklren  have  sinned  against  him,  and  he  have 
cast  them  aAvay  for  their  transgression  ; 

5.  If  thou  wouldest  seek  unto  God  betimes,  and  make  thy 
supplication  to  the  Almighty ; 

6.  If  thou  loert  pure  and  upright ;  surely  now  he  would 
awake  for  thee,  and  make  the  habitation  of  thy  righteousness 
prosperous. 

7.  Though  thy  beginning  was  small,  yet  thy  latter  end 
should  greatly  increase. 

The  word  "if"  here  (in  v.  4)  does  not  imply  in  the  speaker's 
mind  the  least  doubt  as  to  the  fact  that  Job's  sons  had  sinned. 

"  Though  "  would  give  his  thought  more  precisely. "  And  God 

have  cast  them  away  for  their  transgression " — is  put  in  the 
Hebrew  very  suggestively — thus :  And  God  hath  thrown  thom 
into  the  hand  of  their  transgression,  i.  e.,  for  punishment,  as  if  the 
very  sin  they  had  committed  were  armed  with  power  to  punish. 
Thus  certainly  in  the  view  of  the  speaker  must  suffering  follow 
sinning,   as   if  sin  w^ere   made  self-avenging — always   mighty  to 

visit  retribution  upon  the  sinner  w^ho  commits  the  sin. Even 

then  (he  proceeds  to  say)  if  thou  thyself  (making  the  word  thou 
emphatic) — if  thou  as  their  father  wouldest  seek  earnestly 
unto  God  and  make  supplication  to  the  Almighty;  and  then, 
moreover,  if  thou  wert  pure  and  upright  (which  I  fear  is 
far  from  being  the  case) — but  if  thou  shouldest  come  back  to 
purity  by  penitence  and  humiliation  before  God,  surely  even  now, 
desperate  as  thy  case  has  become,  God  Avould  rouse  himself  up  in 
thy  behalf  and  make  thy  righteous  dwelling-place  again  prosper- 
ous.    This,  on  th-e  supposition  that  thy  dwelling-place  shall  be- 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.   VIII.  51 

conic  a  righteous  one. Then,  though  thy  l)eginnings  wore  small 

— though  thy  prosperity  shouhl  start  from  the  lowest  possilile 
point,  yet  thy  latter  end  should  be  exceeding  great.  Remarkably 
Bildad  foretold  sagaciously  the-  latter  end  of  the  Lord's  actual 
dealings  with  Job. 

8.  For  inquire,  I  pray  tliee,  of  the  former  age,  and  pre- 
pare thyself  to  the  search  of  their  fiithers  : 

9.  (For  ^ve  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  know  nothing,  be- 
cause our  days  upon  earth  are  a  shadow  :) 

10.  Shall  not  they  teach  thee,  and  tell  thee,  and  utter 
words  out  of  their  heart  ? 

For  the  proof  of  his  positions  Bildad  appeals  first  to  the  voice 
of  history.  Go  back  to  former  generations ;  search  out  the  testi- 
mony of  their  fathei'S.  Personally  we  have  lived  but  as  it  were  a 
day — only  since  yesterday;  our  observation  therefore  is  all  too 
limited  to  become  a  basis  for  such  a  generalization.  But  the 
fiithers — those  ancient  men  whose  lives  stretched  over  centuries — 
they  have  marked  the  ways  of  God's  providence  through  long  ages 
and  they  must  know.  Will  not  they  give  you  honest  words,  from 
their  simple  hearts  ?  such  words  as  these,  which  he  proceeds  to 
recite. 

11.  Can  the  rush  grow  up  without  mire?  can  the  flag  grow 
without  water? 

12.  Whilst  it  is  yet  in  his  greenness,  and  not  cut  down,  it 
withereth  before  any  other  herb. 

13.  So  are  the  paths  of  all  that  forget  God;  and  the 
hypocrite's  hope  shall  perish : 

14.  "Whose  hope  shall  be  cut  off,  and  whose  trust  shall  be  a 
sjiider's  web. 

They  will  tell  you  that  effects  follow  their  proper  causes ;  as 
you  see  it  in  vegetable  growths,  so  you  may  see  it  in  the  moral 
world — retribution  follows  sin.  The  paper-rush  ("  papyrus  ") 
grows  not  except  in  marshy  soil,  e.  g.  close  along  the  banks  of  the 
Nile ;  the  flag — the  same  that  hid  the  little  ark  of  the  child  Moses 
on  the  margin  of  the  Nile,  grows  not  without  Avater.  But,  the 
water  failing,  these  plants  wither  and  die,  even  without  being  cut 
at  all.  So  are  the  paths  of  all  who  forget  God.  Losing  God's 
favor,  they  perish  no  less  surely  than  these  Nile  growths  when  their 

waters  fail. Let  it  be  noted  incidentally  that  these  allusions  to 

the  well-known  grasses  and  growths  on  the  Nile  banks  bear  wit- 
ness that  the  writer  was  familiar  with  Egypt.  Should  it  seem 
strange  that  ISIoses  (if  really  the  writer  of  this  book)  should  remem- 
ber his  mother's  story  of  the  flags  by  the  river's  brink  that  hid  her 

boy  so  safely  ? The  Hebrew  word  translated  "  hypocrite  "^  should 

not  be  restricted  to  the  common  sense  of  this  English  word — one 
who  falsely  professes  more  piety  than  he  has — but  should  have 
the  broader  sense — the  godless,  impious,  morally  polluted  man- 


52  THE   BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP.    VIII. 

15.  He  shall  lean  upon  his  house,  but  it  shall  not  stand : 
he  shall  hold  it  fast,  but  it  shall  not  endure. 

16.  He  is  green  before  the  sun,  and  his  branch  shooteth 
forth  in  his  garden. 

17.  His  roots  are  wrapj^ed  about  the  heap,  cmd  seeth  the 
place  of  stones. 

18.  If  he  destroy  him  from  his  place,  then  it  shall  deny 
him,  saying,  I  have  not  seen  thee. 

19.  Behold,  this  is  the  joy  of  his  Avay,  and  out  of  the  earth 
shall  others  grow. 

The  description  of  the  wicked  man's  adversity  continues.  lie 
may  lean  upon  his  house  as  upon  something  firm  enough  to  sup- 
port a  man  resting  against  it,  but  the  house  itself  falls ;  he  may 
hold  fast  upon  it    (better    than  "hold  it  fast"),  but  it  endures 

not,  and   therefore   himself  must   fall. Again  comparing  the 

sinner  to  some  vegetable  growth — he  flourishes  for  a  short  season, 
green  and  fresh  in  the  presence  of  the  sun — his  roots  penetrating 
the  stony  soil  and  making  themselves  fast  and  firm  there  (v.  17); 
but  (v.  18)  when  he  shall  be  destroyed  (literally  this  is  impersonal) 

when  one,  or  something  shall  destroy  him  from  his  place, 

this  destruction  shall  be  so  utter  that  his  very  place  shall  deny 
him  and  seem  to  say,  "I  have  not  seen  thee.  No  such  man  ever 
lived  here."  Lo,  mark  it;  this  is  the  highest  joy  the  sinner  can 
reach ;  so  short  is  his  prosperity ;  thus  utter  is  the  ruin  that  swal- 
lows him  up  and  roots  out  his  very  name  and  memorial !  Other 
and  better  men  come  up  at  once  to  fill  the  place  he  held  for  his 
brief  moment.* 

20.  Behold,  God  will  not  cast  away  a  perfect  man,  neither 
will  he  help  the  evil  doers  : 

21.  Till  he  fill  thy  mouth  with  laughing,  and  thy  lips  with 
rejoicing. 

22.  They  that  hate  thee  shall  be  clothed  with  .shame  ;  and 
the  dwelling-place  of  the  wicked  shall  come  to  nought. 

To  another  point  give  your  attention.  Mark  this ;  God  never 
spurns  the  upright — never  rejects  him  as  with  loathing;  nor  on 
tlie  other  side,  does  he  ever  grasp  the  hand  of  evil-working  men 
to  sustain  them  in  their  wickedness.  If  thou  art  truly  good,  God 
will  carry  out  this  principle  of  blessing  the  virtuous  with  j^ros- 
perity  (v.  21)  till  "  he  fills  thy  mouth  with  laughter,"  etc. 

Thus  Bildad's  scheme  of  the  divine  administration  in  this  life 
has  no  place  for  calamity  to  touch  the  good  man,  nor  any  scope 
for  prosperity  to  smile  on  the  wicked.  All  this  seems  to  him  a ' 
resistless  inference  from  God's  justice.  However  it  may  fit,  it 
must  be  made  to  apply  to  the  case  in  hand  — poor  Job,  stripped 
of  children  and  property  ;  stricken,  smitten  of  God  and  afflicted. 
If  his  sins  have  been  correspondingly  great,  what  a  monster  in 
crime  and  vileness  he  must  have  been ! 


THE  BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    IX.  53 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Job  commences  his  reply  to  B'lldad. 

The  great  discussion  has  now  reached  its  deep  places.  Job's 
sensibilities  are  poAverfully  moved.  Struggling  between  a  con- 
sciousness of  sincerity  in  the  main  as  a  true  servant  of  the  Most 
High,  and  a  feeling  of  dark  uncertainty  as  to  the  reasons  why  God 
was  afflicting  him  so  fearfully ;  longing  to  know  what  those  reasons 
might  be,  and  yet  deeply  aware  of  the  majesty,  the  glory,  the 
power  as  Avell  as  the  purity  of  the  Infinite  God,  he  anxiously 
presses  the  question — Is  it  possible  for  me  to  have  a  fair  hearingt 
before  him  ?  Can  I  hope  ever  to  obtain  from  him  an  explanation 
of  these  dark  ways  of  his  providence  toward  me  ? In  this  chap- 
ter he  turns  over  and  over  the  great  points  that  bear  on  this  ques- 
tion, and  gives  large  scope  to  the  feelings  that  well  up  in  his 
troubled  soul. 

1.  Then  Job  auswered  and  said, 

2.  I  kuow  it  is  so  of  a  truth  :  but  how  should  man  be  just 
with  God  ? 

3.  If  he  will  contend  with  him,  he  can  not  answer  him  one 
of  a  thousand. 

"  Of  a  truth  I  know  it  is  so:  "  You  say  God  is  righteous  and 
can  never  pervert  justice.  My  deepest  convictions  affirm  the  same ; 
this  doctrine  must  stand.  No  mortal  can  sustain  himself  as  right- 
eous in  an  issue  made  on  this  point  against  the  Almighty  Ruler. 

How  can  man  prove  himself  just  with  {i.  c,  before)  God? In 

V.  3 — "If  he  (God)  will  contend" — should  rather  be — ivills  to 
contend — if  He  should  choose  to  join  issue  with  a  mere  creature, 
this  creature  could  not  answer  to  God  for  one  count  out  of  a  thou- 
sand in  the  great  indictment;  i.  e.,  man  could  make  out  nothing 
at  all  in  a  case  of  controversy  with  God. 

4.  He  is  wise  in  heart,  and  mighty  in  strength  :  who  hatli 
hardened  himself  against  him,  and  hath  prospered  ? 

5.  Which  removeth  the  mountains,  and  they  know  not: 
which  overturneth  them  in  his  anger ; 

0.  Which  shaketh  the  earth  out  of  her  place,  and  tlie  pil- 
lars thereof  tremble: 

God  being  all-wise  and  all-powerful  as  well,  who  can  withstand 
him  and  be  secure — i.  e.,  and  still  have  peace  and  safety?  The 
welfare  and  destiny  of  every  ci*eature  are  so  perfectly  under  his 
control,  what  can  it  avail  any  proud  mortal  to  take  a  stand  against 

the  Infinite  God? "Who  removeth  mountains  and  they  know 

not" — means — not  that  they  are  unconscious  of  being  moved,  but 
that  it  is  done  with  such  infinite  ease  and  facility  and  of  course  so 
suddenly  that  ere  they  are  aware,  they  are  uptorn  from  their  deep 


54  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP,    IX. 

foundations.  The  speaker  thinks  of  the  fearful  earthquake  hy 
Avhich  the  granite  mountains  are  shaken  and  even  hurled  out  of 
their  place. — The  ancient  notion  that  the  earth  is  supported  upon 
pillars  appears  here  as  we  might  expect — this  being  the  current 
thought  of  those  times.  (See  1  Sam.  2 :  8  and  Job  38 :  4,  6  and 
Prov.  8:  29  and  Ps.  104:  5.) 

7.  Wliicli  commandetli  the  sun,  and  it  risetli  not;  and 
sealetli  up  the  stars; 

8.  Which  alone  spreadeth  out  the  heavens,  and  treadeth 
upon  the  waves  of  the  sea ; 

9.  Which  maketh  Arcturus,  Orion,  and  Pleiades,  and  tlie 
chambers  of  the  south ; 

10.  AVhich  doeth  great  things  past  finding  out ;  yea,  and 
wonders  without  number. 

Who  speaks  to  the  sun  and  it  shines  not — this  being  the  sense 
rather  than  his  rising — the  speaker's  thought  being  apparently 
upon  the  eclipse  as  shutting  off  the  sun's  rays.  In  like  manner 
he  can  seal  up  the  stars  that  their  light  shall  not  reach  us. — "Who 
spreadeth  out  the  heavens " — in  the  sense  of  creating  the  vast 
expanse  of  sky,  called  in  scripture  "  the  firmament."  He  does 
this  of  himself  alone,  with  no  aid  from  the  creatures  he  has  made. 
Who  in  his  majesty  treads  upon  the  heights  of  the  sea  (its  highest 
and  proudest  billows)  ;  who  made  the  great  constellations  here 
named — always  very  prominent  objects  in  the  starry  heavens. 
"The  chambers  of  the  south" — the  word  rather  signifying  the 
secret  chambers,  with  allusion  to  the  little  known  constellations  of 
the  remote  southern  hemisphere.  All  those  glories  of  the  starry 
sky  are  but  the  handiwork  of  the  Almighty,  whose  works  are 
great  beyond  our  searching  out  and  whose  wonderful  doings  defy 
all  enumeration. 

11.  Lo,  he  goeth  by  me,  and  I  see  him  not:  he  passeth  on 
also,  but  I  j)erceive  him  not. 

12.  Behold,,  he  taketh  away,  who  can  hinder  him?  who 
will  say  unto  him,  What  doest  thou  ? 

His  person  invisible  to  mortal  eye,  his  presence  is  known  by 
the  wonderful  works  lie  achieves.  How  then  should  a  weak  mor- 
tal stand  in  awe  before  him! — "Lo,  (v.  12),  he  taketh  away" — but 
the  Hebrew  suggests  rather  this  intensive  thought: — "he  seizes," 
as  the  lion  does  his  prey:  "who  then  can  turn  Jiim  hack" — stay 
his  hand;  reverse  his  doings?  Who  shall  dare  call  him  to  account 
as  to  any  of  his  deeds  ? 

13.  Ij  God  will  not  withdraw  his  anger,  the  proud  helpers 
do  stoop  under  him. 

14.  How  much  less  shall  I  answer  him,  and  choose  out  my 
words  to  reason  with  him  ? 

The  Hebrew  does  not  say  "  if;"  the  real  sentiment  is  better 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    IX.  55- 

expressed  without  it.— God  Avill  not  turn  back  his  anger — the  same 
word  for  "turn  back"  as  in  the  first  clause  of  v.  12  (Eng.  "hin- 
der"). Tiic  sentiment — When  God  has  occasion  for  anger,  no 
mortal  arm  can  Avithstand.  So  the  next  clause  implies ;  "  proud 
helpers  bow " — fall  low — before  (underneath)  it.  These  "helpers  " 
are  supposed  to  proffer  their  help  to  some  poor  mortal  against 
God.  Though  proud  c^"  their  prowess,  they  are  laid  low  before 
his  dreadful  arm. — .Should  I  then — such  an  one  as  I  in  my  weak- 
ness (Heb.  makes  the  word  /  emphatic)  essay  to  answer  him — 
choose  out  fitting  words  for  debate  with  him  ?  Before  such  awful 
majesty,  what  could  my  presence  or  my  words  of  argument  avail? 

15.  Whom,  though  I  were  righteous,  yet  would  I  not 
answer,  hut  I  would  make  supplication  to  my  judge. 

16.  If  I  had  called,  and  he  had  answered  me  ;  yet  would  I 
not  believe  that  he  had  hearkened  unto  my  voice. 

17.  For  he  breaketh  me  with  a  tempest,  and  multiplieth 
my  wounds  without  cause. 

18.  He  will  not  suffer  me  to  take  my  breath,  but  filleth 
me  with  bitterness. 

Even  if  my  cause  were  just,  I  would  attempt  no  answer  in  vin- 
dication of  myself.  I  would  only  supplicate  my  Judge  for  his 
mercy — falling  back  in  humblest  mood  upon  prayer. — Here  let 
the  reader  note  how  pertinently  Job  thinks  of  God  as  his  judge, 
and  therefore  not  as  one  who  could  stand  on  a  common  level  with 
himself  before  some  court  higher  than  either  of  the  parties  in 
litigation.  In  Job's  case  God  must  be  thought  of,  not  as  one  party 
summoned  to  appear  and  answer  to  some  charge,  but  simply  as 

the  Infinite  Judge  himself Even  if  I  were  to  call  and  he  were 

to  answer — "  call"  and  "answer"  being  forensic  terms  employed 
in  suits  at  law,  where  the  complainant  calls,  summoning  the 
accused  to  appear,  and  he  makes  answer.  Even  if  He  were  to 
make  such  answer  I  could  not  believe  my  own  ears — could  not 
believe  that  he  had  stooped  so  low  as  to  regard  my  call  and  pro- 
pose to  meet  me  in  the  forms  of  judicial  trial.  I  could  not 
believe  this,  "for"  (in  the  Hebrew  "who") — /.  e.,  of  one  "who 
dashes  me  Avith  a  tempest  and  multiplies  my  wounds  for  no  good 
cause"  which  I  can  understand.  How  can  I  suppose  that  one 
who  deals  thus  with  me  will  submit  to  a  legal  investigation  Avith 
me  as  to  the  equity  of  his  dealings  ?  So  quick  in  succession  are 
his  bloAvs  I  can  not  even  take  my  breath  betAveen.     (See  the  story 

in  chapt.   1) "Filleth  me  with  bitterness" — not  here  of  the 

spirit — the  feelings  of  the  heart,  but  of  bodily  pangs. 

19.  If  Ispeak  of  strength,  lo,  lie  is  strong  :  and  if  of  judg- 
ment, Avho  shall  set  me  a  time  to  plead  f 

20.  If  I  justify  myself,  mine  OAvn  mouth  shall  condemn 
me :  if  I  say  1  am  perfect,  it  shall  also  prove  me  perverse. 

21.  Tliough  I  loere  perfect,  yet  would  I  not  know  my  soul : 
I  would  despise  my  life. 


56  THE   BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.  IX. 

The  original  words  here  are  strikingly  concise  and  abrupt,  indi- 
cating intense  agitation — emotion  beyond  his  power  to  control: — 
put  as  nearly  in  literal  corresponding  terpis  as  our  language  will 
allow — thus:  If  as  to  strength,  lo.  He  is  mighty:  if  as  to  judgment, 
who  will  appoint  me  the  day  for  a  hearing?!  e.,  before  the  court.* 

In  V.  20,  our  English  version  supplies  quite  too  much  that 

is  not  indicated  at  all  in  the  original.  It  is  far  more  safe  to  take 
the  Hebrew  in  its  simple,  obvious  sense — fhus :  "Though  I  were 
righteous,  my  mouth  would  condemn  me ;  perfect  I— then  He 
would  hold  me  as  perverse."  This  last  verb  in  this  hiphil  coju- 
gation,  might,  under  the  various  usage  of  this  form,  be  translated 
variously; — either  treat  me  as  perverse;  sJioic  vne  to  be  so;  or 
7nake  me  so.     The  nature  of  the  case  seems  to  require  one  of  the 

two  former  rather  than  the  latter. Then  v.  21  may  read  thus  : 

"Perfect  I — I  should  not  know  my 'soul;  I  should  think  little  of 

my  life." In   the  Hebrew  phrase  for  "  knoiv  vu/  soul,"  usage 

favors,  not  conscious  self-knowledge,  but  regard  fur  one's  life, 
as  in  Prov.  12:  10 — the  same  words:  "The  righteous  man  knoto- 
eth  the  life  of  his  beast;  i.  e.,  regardeth  its  happiness.  The  next 
clause,  being  parallel,  demands  this  construction — I  should  not 
value  my  life.  Overawed,  overwhelmed  before  him,  how  could  1 
deem  my  very  life  of  the  least  account  ? In  the  violent  con- 
flict of  emotion  throughout  this  passage,  I  take  the  over-mastering 
thought  to  be  not  so  much  consciousness  of  guilt  before  God  (like 
that  which  Job  expresses  in  42:  5,  6)  as  a  blended  feeling — awe 
and  dread  of  God's  majesty  and  power  with  agonizing  perplexity 
as  to  the  reasons  for  God  s  soro  inflictions  upon  himself  This 
view  of  the  thought  best  accords  with  the  words  thus  far  used, 
and  especially,  with  those  that  follow. Interpreting  this  pass- 
age we  are  to  inquire — not  how  Job  ought  to  have  felt  but  how 
he  did  feel,  as  judged  of  by  his  loords. 

22.  This  is  one  thing,  therefore,  I  said  if,  He  destroyeth  the 
perfect  and  the  wicked. 

Inllcb.  "  This  is  one" — Avhich  it  would  seem  must  mean — this 
one  thing  is  sure;  of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt;  therefore  1 
said — "  He  consumes  righteous  and  wicked:"  sending  his  inflic- 
tions upon  them,  irrespective  of  moral  character.  Often  (at  least) 
both  sufi"cr  at  his  hand  alike.  So  these  words  should  mean  ;  and 
so  the  drift  of  the  following  context  requires. 

23.  If  the  scourge  slay  suddenly,  he  will  laugh  at  the 
trial  of  tlie  innocent. 

24.  The  earth  is  given  into  tlie  hand  of  the  wicked  :  he 
covercth  the  faces  of  the  judges  thereof;  if  not,  where,  ami 
who  is  he  ? 

"When  the  scourge  kills  suddenly,"  he  mocks  ("  seems  to  make 
no  account  of)  the   distress  of   the   innocent."     So   it   certainly 

*  A  case  of  the  same  verb  in  the  same  sense  occurs,  Jer.  49  :  19. 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  IX.  67 

seems  to  us  when  an  earthquake  enirulphs  a  whole  city.  Or 
when  (as  often)  God  suffers  the  wicked  to  come  into  great  power 
and  they  I'ule  the  earth  at  their  will,  making  fearful  havoc  of  hu- 
n^an  well-being.  The  face  of  human  judges  he  seems  to  vail  so 
that  they  are  practically  blind  to  justice  and  administer  law  to  the 
great  detriment  of  society.  If  this  may  not  be  ascribed  to  God — 
at  least  to  his  permissive  agency,  irho  does  it  ?  and  where  is  the 
permissive  or  controling  power  ?  The  facts  are  as  I  say ;  who  is 
responsible?  The  world  is  full  of  evil,  this  evil  falling  on  right- 
eous men  as  well  as  on  wicked  men.  Who  can  deny  this  ;  or 
who  explain  ? 

The  reader  will  observe  that  here  Job  squarely  confronts  the 
doctrine  of  his  three  friends,  which  is  that  God's  administration 
of  good  and  ill  in  the  present  life  is  always  and  perfectly  accord- 
ing to  their  respective  deserts — always  as  their  moral  good  or 
evil.  Job  insists  that  God's  judgments  fall  on  men — at  least  in 
some  cases — with  no  regard  to  their  character  as  innocent  or 
guilty,  virtuous  or  vicious.  Nor  let  us  fixil  to  notice  the  agitation 
and  terror  of  Job  which  appear  in  his  broken  words,  reflecting 
his  tremulous  tones.  Was  it  not  painful  to  him  to  think  so  of 
God  and  to  be  driven  to  these  startling  utterances  by  the  force 
of  what  seemed  to  him  to  be  obvious  fiicts  ? 

25.  Now  my  days  are  swifter  than  a  post :  they  flee  away, 
tliey  see  no  good.       ♦ 

26.  They  ai*e  passed  away  as  the  swift  ships :  as  the  eagle 
that  hasteth  to  the  prey. 

27.  If  I  say,  I  Avill  forget  my  com2:)laint,  I  will  leave  oft' 
my  heaviness,  and  comfort  myself: 

28.  I  am  afraid  of  all  my  sorrows,  I  know  that  thou  wilt 
not  hold  me  innocent. 

Here  appears  one  element  in  Job's  sense  of  weakness  and 
frailty — the  fleetness  of  his  days  and  the  apparent  hopelessness 
of  any  change  for  the  bettor  while  he  lives. 

"  8wifter  than  a  post" — "post"  in  the  old  English  sense  of 
a  mail-carrier,  or  a  runner  Avho  bears  tidings.  So  my  days  have 
fled — (not  merely  are  fleeing) — and  have  seen  no  (abiding)  good. 
They  have  passed  by  as  reed-skiffs,  the  light  vessels  of  papyrus 
that  move  swiftly  on  the  Nile.  [The  Avriter  shows  himself 
familiar  with  scenes  and  facts  of  Egyptian  life.]  Or  (another 
figure)  as  the  flight  of  an  eagle  darting  down  upon  his  prey. 

If  1  say  to  myself — Let  me  forget  my  complaining;  let  me  put 
off  this  sad  face  and  put  on  a  brighter  one — the  exact  sense  of  the 
Hebrew-r-"  then  1  shudder  at  all  my  sorrows  "  ;  they  are  fast- 
ened upon  me,  and  the  very  thought  of  an  effort  to  throAV  them 
off  recoils  upon  me  with  a  sense  of  utter  despair;  and  more  still, 
it  reminds  me  that  these  avocs  come  upon  me  from  God,  and 
that  he  will  not  hold  me  innocent.  Alas,  that  I  can  not  know 
■why  I 


58  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.   IX. 

29.  if  I  be  wicked,  why  then  labor  I  in  vain? 

30.  If  I  wash  myself  with  snow-water,  and  make  niy 
hands  never  so  clean  ; 

31.  Yet  shalt  thou  plunge  me  in  the  ditch,  and  mine  own 
clothes  shall  abhor  me. 

Here  again  the  Hebrew  gives  no  word  for  "if."  It  also  makes 
the  word  /  emphatic.  I  for  my  part;  I,  perhaps  alone  or  above 
other  men,  am  held  to  be  wicked,  being  obviously  treated  as  such. 

Why  then  shall  I  labor  in  vain  for  relief  or  redress  ? "  Though 

1  wash  myself  with  soft  snow-water  and  cleanse  my  hands  with 

alkali  (soap),  yet  Thou  wilt   plunge  me   into  the  pit",   etc. 

These  deeply  impassioned  words — words,  it  must  be  admitted, 
of  severe  reflection  upon  God,  it  were  wrong  to  attempt  to  justify. 
We  may  perhaps  say — They  show  how  for  a  tim.e  the  ways  of 
God  toward  him  appeared  in  his  eye.  He  could  not  see  that  he 
above  all  other  men  had  deserved  such  terrible  sufferings.  It 
may  have  seemed  to  him  that  God  was  imputing  to  him  crimes 
of  which,  in  comparison  with  other  moi'e  wicked  yet  far  happier 
men,  he  was  not  consciously  guilty.  The  author  aims  to  show 
how  a  good  man — good  in  a  general  but  not  in  the  perfect  sense — 
might  be  agonized  so  long  as  he  tried  to  apply  to  his  own  case 
the  doctrine  that  the  sufferings  of  this  life  are  the  exact  measure 
of  men's  sins.  Applied  to  good  men  whf)  really  value  the  ap- 
proval of  God  and  are  agonized  under  his  apparent  displeasure, 
the  doctrine  is  shown  to  be  uttei-ly  and  terribly  impracticable — 
too  impracticable,  too  harassing,  to  be  true. 

32.  For  he  is  not  a  man,  as  I  am,  that  I  should  answer 
him,  and  we  should  come  together  in  judgment. 

33.  Neither  is  there  any  daysman  betwixt  us,  that  might 
lay  his  hand  upon  us  both. 

If  God  were  a  man  like  myself,  we  might  meet  on  common 
ground  and  I  would  ask  him  wherefore  he  sent  upon  me  these 
crushing  sorrows;  or  if  there  were  any  mediator  ("daysman") 
between  us,  capable  (the  word  signifies)  of  rebuking  us,  either  or 
both,  then  we  might  have  the  question  at  issue  fairly  heard  and 
adjusted. 

34.  Let  him  take  his  rod  away  from  me,  and  let  not  his 
fear  terrify  me. 

35.  The7i  would  I  speak,  and  not  fear  him ;  but  it  is  not  so 
with  me. 

If  he  would  remove  his  rod  from  upon  me  and  not  let  the  fear 
of  him  overawe  me,  then  I  would  speak  and  not  fear  him;  for  I 
am  restrained,  not  so  much  by  a  consciousness  that  I  am  all 
wrong  and  really  deserve  these  inflictions,  as  by  the  dread  of  his 
majesty  and  power.  I  am  restrained  less  by  what  I  see  in  myself 
than  by  what  I   see    and  dread   in  the  Almighty  God. The 


THE   BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAr.    X.  59 

passage  is  difficult.  This  sense  is  suggested  as  most  in  harmony 
with  the  words  themselves  and  with  the  general  drift  of  thought 
throughout  the  context. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Job's  speech  concluded. 

1.  My  soul  is  weary  of  my  life  ;  I  will  leave  my  complaint 
upon  myself;  I  will  speak  in  the  bitterness  of  my  soul. 

2.  I  Avill  say  unto  God,  Do  not  condemn  me ;  shew  me 
wherefore  thou  contendest  with  me. 

The  word,  my  "  soul,"  is  slightly  stronger  than  to  have  said 
/,  since  it  implies  that  his  deepest  sensibilities  were  in  this 
weariness   of  life.     He  felt  that  such  a  life  was  a  sore  burden. 

The  English  version  of  the  next  clause  is  by  no  means  clear. 

Job  means — I  will  give  full  scope  to  my  complaining — to  the  out- 
pouring of  my  sorrows  :  I  will  speak  out  all  my  sad  heart.  Let 
me  speak,  pressed  by  this  bitterness  of  my  soul. V.  2.  ex- 
presses the  feeling  that  was  uppermost  and  strongest  in  his 
heart.  He  did  long  to  know  why  God  seemed  to  be  thus  contend- 
ing with  him,  pushing  a  controversy,  as  his  word  signifies.  It 
was  all  a  mystery  to  his  mind.     O  might  he  only  know  ! 

3.  Is  it  good  unto  tliee  that  thou  shouldest  oppre8s,  that 
thou  shouldest  despise  the  work  of  thine  hands,  and  shine 
upon  the  counsel  of  the  wicked  ? 

Is  it  for  one  moment  to  be  supposed  that  God  enjoys  the  oppress- 
ing of  his  own  creature;  that  he  cares  little  or  nothing  for  one 
who  is  the  workmanship  of  his  own  hand;  and,  that,  moreover, 
he  should  seem  to  approve  the  counsels  of  wicked  men — in  which 
words  he  tacitly  implies  that  God  connives  at  the  slanders  which 
the  wicked  were  insinuating  against  him  as  now  proving  himself 
to  be  one  of  the  worst  of  men.  His  thought  may  have  been  on 
these  heartless  but  professed  friends  of  his. 

4.  Hast  thou  eyes  of  flesh  ?  or  seest  thou  as  man  seeth  ? 

5.  Are  thy  days  as  the  days  of  man  ?  are  thy  years  as  man's 
days, 

6.  That  thou  inquivest  after  mine  iniquity,  and  searchest 
after  my  sin  ? 

7.  Thou  knowe.st  that  I  am  not  wicked  ;  and  tlicre  is  none 
that  can  deliver  out  of  thine  hand. 

Can  it  be  (Job  would  say)  that  God  takes  the  false  view  of  my 


60  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB, — CHAP.  X. 

case  and  character  that  my  friends  have  taken  in  this  debate :  and 
is  God  subject  to  such  mistaken  judgments  as  are  common  to 
short-lived  man?  Is  it  for  any  such  reason  that  God  sets  him- 
self to  search  so  sharply  and  persistently  for  my  sin,  although 
(first  word  of  v.  7)  although  "  thou  knoAvest  I  am  not  a  wicked 
man  (in  the  sense  they  claim),  and  although,  moreover,  thy  judg- 
ment on  my  case  is  of  infinite  moment  to  me,  for  none  can  deliver 
from  thine  hand.  The  sentence  thou  shalt  pass  upon  me  must 
be  final — must  forever  control  my  future  destiny.  O  let  it,  then, 
be  a  x'ighteous  one  ! 

8.  Thine  hands  have  made  me  and  fashioned  me  togethqr 
round  about ;  yet  thou  dost  destroy  me. 

9.  Remember,  I  beseech  thee,  that  thou  hast  made  me  as 
the  clay;  and  wilt  thou  bring  me  into  dust  again? 

10.  Hast  thou  not  poured  me  out  as  milk,  and  curdled  mc 
like  cheese  ? 

11.  Thou  hast  clothed  me  with  skin  and  flesh,  and  hast 
fenced  me  with  bones  and  sinews. 

12.  Thou  hast  granted  me  life  and  favor,  and  thy  visita- 
tion hath  preserved  my  spirit. 

13.  And  these  things  hast  thou  hid  in  thine  heart :  I  know 
that  this  is  with  thee. 

"Together  round  about"  means  onlj' — in  every  part — so  that  I 
am  wholly  and  absolutely  of  thy  workmanship ; — and  yet  wilt  thou 

destroy  the  work  of  thine  own  hands  ?-■ "  Made  me  as  the  clay  " 

— i.  e.,  as  the  clay  is  molded  by  the  potter  into  whatever  form  he 
will — which  expression  moreover,  starting  with  the  point  of  simi- 
larity in  the  mode  and  a  like  perfect  control,  seems  to  have  sug- 
gested the  further  point — made  out  of  earth  as  to  the  material; 

for  he  asks,  Wilt  thou  resolve  me  back  to  the  same  dust  again? 

V.  10  gives  the   same  thought  under  another  figure. In  v.  11 

"  fenced "  is  not  so  much,  protected  with  defensive  armor,  as 
interlaced,  knit  together,  and  made  strong  and  firm  with  bones 

and  sinews. In  v.  12,  "thy  visitation"  is  what  we  express  by 

the  word  "  providence  " — thy  perpetual  oversight  and  protec- 
tion. This  Job  says  has  kept  me  in  life — a  life  of  general  enjoy- 
ment.  All  these    things  hast   thou  done   for   me    not   of  un- 

thoughtful  impulse,  but  of  deliberate  purpose,  a  purpose  deep 
hidden  in  thy  heart.  1  know  that  such  has  been  thy  mind  toward 
me.  And  Job  seems  to  imply  that  it  is  to  him  all  the  more  strange 
that  one  who  has  made  him  with  so  much  skill  and  watched  over 
him  with  so  much  care,  should  now  turn  upon  him  to  break  down 
and  destroy  the  work  of  his  own  hands. 

14.  If  I  sin,  then  thou  markest  mc,  and  thou  wilt  not  ac- 
quit me  from  mine  iniquity. 

15.  If  I  be  wicked,  woe  unto  me;  and  if  1  be  righteous. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB — CHAP.  X.  61 

yet  will  I  not  lift  up  my  head.  lam  fall  of  confusion  ;  there- 
fore see  thou  mine  affliction  ; 

16.  For  it  iiicreaseth.  Thou  huntest  me  as  a  fierce  lion  : 
and  again  thou  shewest  thyself  marvelous  upon  me. 

17.  Thou  renewest  thy  witnesses  against  me,  and  increasest 
thine  indignation  upon  me  ;  changes  and  war  are  against  me. 

No  fond  partiality  for  the  -work  of  his  own  hands  abates  at  all 
from  the  searching  scrutiny  with  which  God  notes  and  punishes 
moral  obliquity.  Does  this  appear  strange  to  Job,  or  does  he  de- 
sign only  to  indicate  that  this  scrutiny  seems  to  him  in  his  own 
case  tb  be  severe,  pushed  to  an  extent  which  he  can  not  well  ac- 
count for  ? 

"If  I  be  righteous,  I  may  not — dare  not — lift  up  my  head" — so 
overwhelmed  am  I  with  the  sense  of  being  crushed  beneath  his 

inflictions. The  English  version  (last  clause  of  v.  15  and  first 

of  V.  16),  fails  to  give  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew.  Better  thus — 
"full  of  shame  and  the  sight  of  my  sufferings!  "  i.  e.,  confounded 
by  this  sight  and  sense  of  my  sufferings.  "  If  it  rise  up  " — i.  e., 
if  my  head  is  lifted  up  with  some  sense  of  conscious  innocence, 

then  thou  dost  hunt  me  as  the  fierce  lion  hunts  his  prey. "  Thy 

witnesses  "  are  the  manifest  indications  of  God's  displeasure,  which 
come  with  fresh  power  and  frequency,  with  host  succeeding  host, 
one  battalion  after  another  as  with  charging  squadrons  on  the 
field  of  battle.  One  of  the  Heb.  words  gives  us  the  idea  of  a 
martial  host;  the  other,  of  a  hot  succession  of  assaults.  The  sense 
I  take  to  be — I  am  full  of  confusion  as  I  see  my  sufferings  (v.  15) 
and  the  more  so  because  I  am  compelled  to  think  of  them  as  from 

God's  hand! Tlie  Uel).  verb  for  "  incrcaseth  "  (v.  16)  means, 

to  be  or  l)ecome  high ;  and  best  refers  to  lifting  up  his  head,  as 
above.  If  I  say,  I  will  bear  all  bravely  and  raise  my  head  witli 
heroic  fortitude,  then  it  becomes  a  new  mark  for  tlie  arrows  of 
the  Almighty;  he  comes  down  upon  me  as  the  lion  leaps,  upon  his 
prey;  more  and  more  marvelous  and  astounding  become  his  visi- 
tations of  sorrow  upon  sorrow. 

18.  "Wherefore  then  hast  thou  brought  me  forth  out  of  the 
womb  ?  Oh  that  I  had  given  up  the  ghost,  and  no  eye  had 
seen  me ! 

19.  I  should  have  been  as  though  I  had  not  been  ;  I  should 
have  been  carried  from  the  womb  to  the  grave. 

Here  is  the  same  thought  essentially  as  in  chap.  3,  where  Job 
so  emphatically  and  plaintively  cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  and 
wished,  (O  how  imploringly  !)  tluit  he  had  never  been  !  Why,  he 
asks,  should  God  give  existence  at  all  to  one  Avho  exists  only  to 
suffer?  If  God  had  but  let  me  perish  from  the  womb,  and  no 
human  eye  had  seen  a  throb  of  life,  then  I  should  be  as  if  I  had 
never  been — should  never  have  seen  the  light  of  life  and  so  never 
have  known  these  agonies  beyond  endurance-. 


62  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    X. 

20.  Are  not  my  days  few  ?  cease  then,  and  let  me  alone, 
that  I  may  take  comfort  a  little, 

21.  Before  I  go  whence  I  shall  not  return,  even  to  the  land 
of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death ; 

22.  A  land  of  darkness,  as  darkness  itself;  and  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  without  any  order,  and  wliere  the  light  id  as 
darkness. 

But  it  is  vain  to  wish  and  pray  against  what  is  and  can  not 
cease  to  be.  Yet  my  days  at  the  utmost  must  be  few.  Let  me 
therefore  pray  that  God  would  arrest  these  terrible  inflictions, 
withdraw  his  too  heavy  hand,  and  let  my  face  brighten  up  (-Ileb.) 
for  one  brief  moment,  before  I  go  and  not  return — go  to  that  realm 
of  utter  darkness — that  chaos  of  all  desolation  where  even  the 
light  is  but  darkness  itself! 

This  description  of  the  under-world — the  realm  of  the  dead — is, 
in  every  point  of  view,  remarkable,  and  naturally  starts  in  our 
minds  many  interesting  questions.  Does  Job  speak  according  to 
the  thought  of  his  times  current  then  ?  Is  this  realm  of  darkness 
the  home  of  lost  souls  only,  or  of  all  human  souls ;  and  is  it  con- 
ceived of  as  only  an  intermediate  state  (between  death  and  the 
final  resurrection  and  judgment)  beyond  which  is  to  be  another 
state  of  existence?  Does  Job  think  of  this  "dai'kness"  as  retri- 
bution for  sin  —  real  punishment,  and  the  very  doom  of  lost, 
unpardoned  souls  ?  Or  is  it  mostly  a  state  of  unconsciousness — 
this  darkness  practically  shutting  off  the  activities  and  thought- 
workings  of  life  ? — And  yet  further ;  how  much,  if  at  all,  are  the 
dark  shadings  of  this  picture  due  to  the  exaggerations  of  oriental 
poetry  ?  How  much,  if  any  thing,  must  be  attributed  to  images 
thrown  forward  by  a  certain  power  of  self-projection,  from  his 
dark  present,  to  make  the  future  no  less  dark  and  dismal  ? 

Each  one  of  these  several  points  seems  to  me  worthy  of  atten- 
tion. As  I  think  of  them,  I  am  impressed  with  the  conviction 
that  the  human  mind  in  that  age  and  country,  having  but  the 
least  possible  light  from  revelation  on  the  great  future  beyond  the 
grave,  was  shut  up  mainly  to  this  sense  of  darkness  in  the  state 
of  human  souls  there,  and  especially  so  when  the  present  was  to 
them  almost  hopelessly  dark  and  hence  threw  forward  only  dark 
foreshadowings  upon  that  unknown  world.  To  them.  He  who 
ultimately  came  as  "the  Light  of  the  world,"  had  not  yet  appeared 
to  "bring  life  and  immortality  to  light."  Some  gleams  of  light 
fell  on  the  patriarchs  who  learned  during  their  earthly  life  to 
"  walk  with  God."  A  portion  of  the  light  and  joy  of  such  walking 
would  naturally  be  reflected  forward  into  that  little  known  realm 
beyond  the  grave.  It  can  not  be  supposed  that  their  anticipated 
future  was  wdioUy  buried  under  such  dense  and  unrelieved  dark- 
ness as  Job  here  portrays. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XI.  63 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Speech  of  Zophar. 

1.  Then  answered  Zopliar  the  Naamathite,  and  said, 

2.  Should  not  the  multitude  of  words  be  answered  ?  and 
should  a  man  full  of  talk  be  justified  ? 

3.  Should  thy  lies  make  men  hold  their  peace  ?  and  when 
thou  mockest,  shall  no  man  make  thee  ashamed  ? 

Shall  a  man's  words  be  deemed  unanswerable  because  they  are 
innumerable  ?  Must  we  desist  from  all  attempt  to  reply  because 
thy  words  are  so  copious?  Or,  shall  a  man  of  lips  (Heb.)  be 
deemed  just  in  his  cause  by  virtue  of  his  loquacity?  Shall  thy 
A'ain  boasts  (better  than  "  lies  ")  put  men  to  silence,  and  then  shalt 

thou   mock  on,    and   none  put  thee   to   shame? These  cruel, 

heartless  taunts  upon  Job  make  not  the  least  allowance  for  his 
terrible  sufierings ;  manifest  not  the  slightest  sympathy  with  a 
soul  lacerated  under  a  sense  of  inflictions  he  could  not  account 
for — visitations  from  the  Almighty  that  were  most  painfully 
mysterious. 

4.  For  thou  hast  said,  My  doctrine  is  pure,  and  I  am 
clean  in  thine  eyes. 

The  translation — "For  thou  hast  said,"  fails  to  give  correctly 
the  relations  of  thought  since  the  verb  "mockest"  in  the  previous 
verse,  and  "said"  in  tliis  verse,  stand  in  Hebrew  in  the  same 
form  of  the  verb.  Hence  better  thus  :  That  thou  mayest  mock  and 
also  that  thou  mayest  say,  etc.,  my  doctrine  is  all  right;  my  views 
of  God's  administration  are  just.    I  have  been  morally  pure  before 

thee,  etc. As  to  this  point,  Zophar  failed  to  distinguish  between 

being  sincere  as  opposed  to  hypocritical — which  Job  did  claim  to 
be;  and  being  absolutely  sinless  before  God — which  Job  did  not 
claim.  But  men  in  controversy  are  wont  to  fail  in  just  discrimi- 
nation, as  also  in  candor  and  kindness  toward  an  opponent. 

5.  But  oh  that  God  would  speak,  and  open  his  lipsagainst 
thee  : 

6.  And  that  he  would  shew  thee  the  secrets  of  wisdom, 
that  theij  are  double  to  that  which  is  !  Know  therefore  that 
God  exacteth  of  thee  less  than  thine  iniquity  deserveth. 

The  second  clause  of  v.  6  as  put  in  our  version  is  by  no  means 
lucid.  It  is  parallel  with  the  preceding,  thus :  That  God  would 
show  thee  the  secret  things  of  wisdom,  how  there  are  complications 
to  understand — i.  e.,  how  there  are  doublings,  intricate  enfoldings, 
in  the  waj's  of  God,  considered  as  subjects  of  human  thought  and 

inquiry. O  that  God  himself  would  speak  and  show  thee  the 

deep  things  of  his  kingdom,  and  so  put  to  silence  thy  complaints 
against  his  ways  ! — a  sensible  prayer  surely,  even  on  the  mildest 


64  THE  BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XL 

theory  of  Job's  actual  case  !  For  man's  darkened  mind  gets  the 
true  light  of  God  only  when  God  himself  comes  near  to  speak  to 

man's  inner  soul. Last  clause  of  v.  6  is  thus :    Then  wouldest 

thou  know  that  God  forgetteth  for  thee  some  of  thy  sins  (Heb.), 
the  sense  of  which  is — does  not  bring  them  all  into  remembrance 
against  thee. 

Zophar  thinks  of  Job's  insinuation  that  God  has  over-marked 
his  sins — has  been  severely  exact — not  to  say,  more  than  exact, 
in  noting  his  iniquities.  If  the  Lord  were  to  meet  Job  in  solemn 
review  of  his  case,  frail  man  Avould  see  that  God  had  by  no  means 
brought  all  his  sins — much  less,  more  than  all,  up  to  remembrance. 

7.  Canst  tliou  by  searching  find  out  God  ?  canst  thou  find 
out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ? 

8.  It  is  as  high  as  heaven ;  what  canst  thou  do  ?  deeper 
than  hell ;  what  canst  thou  know  ? 

9.  The  measure  thereof  is  longer  than  the  earth,  and 
broader  than  the  sea. 

"Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  bearing  of  these  conceptions  of 
God  upon  Zophar's  argument  with  Job,  they  are  at  once  pro- 
foundly true,  and  grandly,  yea  sublimely,  expressed. The  He- 
brew puts  it- — Canst  thou  find  out  the  deep  things  of  God?  Canst 
thou  find  out  the  Almighty  One,  to  the  very  end — till  there  shall 
be  no  more  to  find?  "Heights  of  heaven  are  they" — i.  e.,  the 
things  that  are  in  him  which  ye  have  to  search  out;  deeper  than 
the  under-world;  longer  than  this  wide  earth  is  its  measure,  and 
broader  than  the  sea !  By  what  standard  shall  we  conceive  his 
vastness ;  what  can  we  find  in  all  the  realm  of  nature  that  can 
give  us  an  adequate  conception  or  illustration  of  the  great  depths 
of  his  being  or  of  the  infinitude  of  his  pei'fections  ? 

As  bearing  upon  the  points  at  issue  in  this  discussion,  nothing 
could  be  more  appropriate.  God's  ways  are  deep  ;  thy  short  line 
can  not  reach  their  bottom.  His  ends  in  the  pains  he  inflicts  or 
sufiers  to  befall  us,  may  lie  remote,  far  beyond  our  vision  ;  his 
wisdom  in  these  plans  and  his  love  in  the  ends  he  seeks  may  be 
equally  too  deep  and  too  vast  for  us  to  take  in,  and  consequently 
too  great  to  be  adjudged  before  our  petty  tribunal.  It  wore  wise 
therefore  for  us  to  desist  at  the  outset  and  never  presume  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  the  ways  of  the  Almighty.  We  may  think  it 
humiliating — we  can  never  reasonably  think  it  unwise — to  accept 
these  great  facts  of  our  present  existence  as  related  to  God's 
ways  in  providence.  The  occasions  are  countless  in  which  we 
must  despair  of  fathoming  the  dejDths  of  God's  thought,  and  must 
fall  back  upon  his  promises  and  upon  his  known  wisdom  and  love, 
resting  there  till  the  possible,  yea  probable,  revelations  of  the 
great  future  shall  make  all  plain  that  we   shall    then    need   to 

know. Meantime,  let  our  faith  in  God  become  only  the  more 

strong  for  the  dark,  inscrutable  things  which  constitute  so  much 
of  the  moral  trial  of  our  present  life.     Who  knows  how  much 


THE    BOOK  OF  JOB. — CITAr.    XI.  65 

this  discipline  of  faith  may  have  to  do  -with  the  peace  and  bless- 
edness of  our  heaven  at  last  ? 

Zophar's  doctrine — God's  ways  too  deep  for  man  to  fathom — , 
had  good  lessons  for  Job  ;  scarcely  less  good  for  Zophar — a  fact 
which  he  may  have  overlooked.  For  Zophar  assumed  to  pro- 
nounce very  definitely  and  positively  in  regard  to  God's  moral 
administi'ation  in  this  world;  and  what  is  more,  he  made  bad 
mistakes.  If  he  had  held  his  judgment  in  suspense  till  he  should 
know  God  better,  he  would  have  been  a  wiser  man. 

10.  If  he  cut  off,  and  shut  up,  or  gather  together,  tlien 
■\vho  can  hinder  him  ? 

11.  For  he  knoweth  vain  men  :  he  seeth  wickedness  also; 
will  he  not  then  consider  it  f 

12.  For  vain  man  would  be  wise,  though  man  be  born  like 
a  wild  ass's  colt. 

In  V.  10  the  leading  words  are  borrowed  from  judicial  proceed- 
ings; thus.  If  he  (God)  comes  upon  thee  {i.  e.,  for  arrest),  and 
imprisons  thee,  and  convokes  or  summons  a  court  to  try  the  case, 
then  who  can  answer — i.  e.,  to  his  indictment? "  For  he  know- 
eth men  of  wickedness— (ah,  so  perfectly  !) — "  he  "  being  made 
emphatic;  he  surely  of  all  beings  will  certainly  know.  He  sees 
iniquity,  though  he  seems  not  to  notice  it.  So  we  must  construe 
the  last  verb  in  v.  11. — When  he  appears  not  to  know — a  form  of 
the  Hebrew  verb,  often  used  specially  for  what  appears  or  secmn 
to  be.  iSo  God  certainly  notices  all  human  guilt,  however  he  may 
seem  not  to  know  it. But  man,  hollow  at  heart,  is  without  under- 
standing— a  passage  in  which  the  Hebrew  words  are  quite  peculiar 
and  indeed  specially  forcible  ; — suggesting  this :  Man  with  heart 
bored  through  and  through,  hollow  and  empty,  is  heartless  in  the 

sense  of  being  without  understanding. As  a  foal  of  the  wild 

ass  is  man  born  ;  and  consequently  so  is  he  from  his    birth — a 
view  of  depraved  man,  at  once  most  sad  and  yet  most  true  ! 

13.  If  thou  prepare  thine  heart,  and  stretch  out  thine 
hands  toward  him  : 

14.  If  iniquity  6e  in  thine  hand,  put  it  for  away,  and  let 
not  wickedness  dwell  in  thy  tabernacles. 

15.  For  then  shalt  thou  lift  up  thy  face  without  spot ;  yea, 
thou  shalt  be  steadfast,  and  shaft  not  fear : 

16.  Because  thou  shalt  forget  tJuj  misery,  and  remember  it 
as  waters  that  pass  away  : 

17.  And  thiiie  age  shall  be  clearer  than  the  noon -day  ; 
thou  shalt  shine  forth,  thou  shalt  be  as  the  morning. 

But  bad  as  man  is,  there  is  yet  hope  for  the  penitent.     There- 
fore let  me  say  to  thee,  that  if  even  thou  wilt  prepare  thy  heart, 
diligently  giving  thyself  to  reflection  and  repentance ;  and  then 
spread  forth  thy  hands  in  prayer ;  and  if  there  be  iniquity  in  thy 
4 


66  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XI. 

hand,  put  it  far  away,  and  let  not  wickedness  abide  in  thy  tents — 
the  plural  perhaps  including  those  of  his  childi-en  as  well  as  his 
own;  then  stireh/  (better  than  "for"  as  the  first  word  of  v.  15) 
thou  shouldest  lift  up  thy  face  without  spot — with  no  waste  of 
disease  and  no  stain  from  tears  of  sorrow; — and  be  steadfast  in 
the  sense  of  a  sweet  confidence  in  God ; — for  thou  shalt  forget 
these  bitter  sorrows  and  remember   them  only  as  men  remember 

water-floods  when  they  have  gone  to  return  no  more. Brighter 

than  noon  shall  a  new  life  arise;  the  (former)  darkness  shall  be 
as  the  morning.  So  this  may  be  read,  if  the  Heb.  word  here 
rendered  "darkness"  be  a  noun;  if  a  verb  (according  to  some 
authorities)  then  thus  :    Though  now  thou  art  dark,  yet  shalt  thou 

be  as  the  morning.     The  sense  in  either  reading  is  the  same. 

All  this  describes  the  new  life  of  peace  and  joy  which  should 
ensue  upon  his  repentance  and  God's  forgiveness. 

18.  And  thou  shalt  be  secure,  because  there  is  hope  :  yea, 
thou  shalt  dig  about  thee,  and  thou  shalt  take  thy  rest  in  safety. 

19.  Also  thou  shalt  lie  down,  and  none  shall  make  thee 
afraid;  yea,  many  shall  make  suit  unto  thee. 

20.  But  the  eyes  of  the  wicked  shall  fail,  and  they  shall 
not  escape,  and  their  hope  shall  be  as  the  giving  up  of  the  ghost. 

This  might  well  be  read — And  then  thou  wilt  be  trustful,  for 
there  will  be  good  ground  for  it  (ground  for  all  hope)  ;  yea,  thou 
wilt  search  (to  see  if  all  is  well)  and  lie  down  without  fear. 
Thou  shalt  have  sweet  undisturbed  repose;  and  the  high  consid- 
eration accorded  to  thee  in  thy  former  prosperity  shall    return 

again; — "many  shall  seek    thy  favor." But  the   eyes  of   the 

wicked  shall  waste  away,  consumed  with  grief,  sorely  pained  with 
perpetual  disappointment  in  all  expected  pleasure ;  refuge  perishes 
from  them,  and  their  hope — it  is  the  breathing  out  of  one's  life; 
it  passes  forever  away  like  the  spirit  departing  in  death. 

Zophai*,  like  his  brethren,  held  on  persistently  to  one  and  the 
same  theory,  viz.,  that  all  the  sufferings  of  this  life  are  judgments 
sent  from  God,  and  are  the  indices  and  measure  of  the  sufferer' sU 
guilt;  that  Job — good  man  though  he  had  seemed  to  be — must  not 
think  himself  an  exception  to  these  invariable  laws  of  God's  pres- 
ent government,  and  therefore  he  must  have  been  a  great  and 
grievous  sinner  and  ought  to  admit  the  fact — ought  to  open  his 
soul  to  the  conscious  sense  of  guilt,  and  seek  mercy  by  repent- 
ance and  prayer  for  pardon.  On  these  conditions  they  think  it 
safe  to  promise  him  forgiveness,  and  then  a  new  and  joyous  life. 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XIT.  G7 

CHAPTEll   XII. 

Reply  of  Job. 

1.  And  Job  answered  and  said, 

2.  No  doubt  but  ye  are  the  people,  and  Avisdoni  shall  die 
with  you. 

3.  But  I  have  understanding  as  well  as  you;  I  am  not 
inferior  to  you;  yea,  who  knoweth  not  such  things  as  these? 

According  to  a  usage  with  disputants,  more  common  than 
praiseworthy,  Job  opens  his  reply  with  a  caustic  retort.  In  apol- 
ogy for  him  we  might  say — It  was  provoked  by  the  claim  to 
superior  wisdom  which  his  friends  had  set  up  and  which  was 
thrust  forward  in  a  very  offensive  way  by  Zophar  in  the  beginning 
of  his  last  speech.  Yes,  in  keen  sarcasm.  Job  replies,  "no  doubt 
ye  are  the  people"  and  ye  represent  the  sum  total  of  all  human 
knowledge  and  sagacity  :  when  ye  come  to  die,  all  wisdom  must 
perish  from  among  men !  Alas  for  all  future  generations ! — But, 
indulge  me  to  say — "  I  have  some  understanding  as  truly  as  your- 
selves"— in  which  phrase  Job's  choice  of  terms  has  an  eye  to 
Zophar's  words  (11:  12);  man  bored  out  till  his  heart  is  hollow, 
is  of  necessity  Jieartleas — using  heart  in  the  sense  of  understand-*- 
ing.  This,  Zophar  had  insinuated,  was  the  case  with  Job ;  and 
to  this,  therefore,. Job  indignantly  replies; — That  is  no  more  true 
of  me  than  of  yourself  In  v.  2,  the  second  clause  is  literally — 
"I  am  in  no  respect  more  fallen  than  you"  which  may  perhaps 
intimate    that   the    original   fall  of  man   from    primeval   purity 

.  reached  his  opponent  as  truly  as  himself. Tlie  last  clause  is — 

"'With  whom  are  not  all  such  things  " — knowledges — as  ye  have 
been  proudly  displaying  and  claiming  as  your  exclusive  pos- 
session? They  are  no  specialty  of  yours.  Any  body  could  say 
all  that. 

4.  I  am  as  one  mocked  of  his  neighbor,  who  calleth  upon 
God,  and  he  answereth  him  :  the  just  upright  man  is  laughed 
to  scorn. 

The  sense  of  this  verse  turns  much  upon  the  point — tcJio  is  it — 
Job  or  his  neighbor — that  calls  upon  God  and  he  answereth? — 
The  order  of  the  words  in  the  English  version  suggests 
"neighbor" — this  being  the  nearest  antecedent;  but  the  course 
of  thought  and  argument  clearly  demands  its  reference  to  Job. — 
I  am  become  one  mocked  of  his  neighbor,  even  1  who  call  upon 
God  and  he  answers ; — for  I  have  cried  to  God  in  my  supplications 
and  he  has  often  deigned  to  hear  my  cry.  Yet  ye,  my  professed 
friends,  are  utterly  pitiless  to  my  appeals  for  your  sympathy  and 
moral  support.  Strange  to  say,  a  mockery — an  object  of  insult — 
is  the  just,  upright  man  I — a  fact  which  of  itself  overturns  your 
whole  theory  of  the  moral   administration  of  this  world. — We 


68  THE   BOOK    OF    JOB. CIIAr.    XIT. 

must  suppose  that  Job  makes  this  a  point  in  his  rebutting  of  the 
main  argument  of  his  friends.  They  maintained  that  every-where 
and  always  the  good  were  held  in  honor,  and  only  the  bad  were 
abased.  Job  answers:  I  have  become  a  by-word  and  a  mockery 
to  my  neighbors,  and  I  have  a  deep,  immovable  consciousness  of 
general  integrity  and  uprightness  among  men.  This  conscious- 
ness of  my  inner  soul  refutes  all  your  philosophy. 

5.  He  that  is  ready  to  slip  with  /its  feet  is  as  a  lamp  de- 
spised in  the  thought  of  him  that  is  at  ease. 

The  first  Hebrew  word  in  this  verse*  admits  of  being  taken  in 
two  very  different  senses.  If  made  up  of  a  preposition  and  a 
noun,  it  means — -for  misfortune  (or  calamify) ;  but  taken  as  only 
one  word,  it  signifies  a  lamp.  Our  translators  took  it  in  the  latter 
sense:  most  of  the  modern  critics  (with  good  reason,  I  think,) 
prefer  the  former.  So  taken,  the  verse  may  be  read — "  There  is 
scorn  for  misfortune  in  the  thought  of  him  at  ease — scorn  ready 
for  men  of  wavering  step."  When  a  man  becomes  the  victim  of 
misfortune  and  his  feet  slip,  portending  a  terrible  fall,  then  those 
who  live  at  ease,  all  going  well  with  them,  hea^p  upon  him  their 
scorn. f  Such  facts  do  occur  in  human  life  (Job  would  say),  and 
he  doubtless  meant  to  intimate — such  is  precisely  the  case  between 
me  and  my  professed  friends.  The  fiicts  reflect  no  special  honor 
upon  poor  human  nature.  I  submit  to  you,  my  friends,  whether 
ye  ought  not  to  be  ashamed  of  it ! 

6.  The  tabernacles  of  robbers  prosper,  and  they  that  pro- 
voke God  are  secure;  into  whose  hands  God  bringeth 
ahundanily. 

The  last  clause  of  this  verse  has  been  construed  variously  by* 
critics;  but  this  variety  affects  the  general  argument  too  little  to 
justify    an    elaborate    discussion.     I  accept    the    general    sense 
of   our  English  version — "into  whose  hand  God  causes  good  to 
come" — /.  e.,  who  prospers  them  in  their  efforts  to  accumulate. 

The  verse  entire  affirms  a  fact  of  most  vital  bearing  upon  the 

great  argument  between  Job  and  his  friends.  The  tents  of 
highway  robbers  continue  in  peace,  vmdisturbed ;  all  their 
plunder  remains  secure  for  their  enjoyment,  how  much  soever 
they  provoke  God  to  his  face,  violating  his  law  recklessly,  as 
their  life-long  business  and  avowed  profession. 

Yet,  strange  to  say,  God,  the  righteous  and  just  One,  brings 
them  earthly  treasures — the  best  man  has — with  his  full  hand. 
In   that  great  Arabian  country.  Job   knew,  and   his  friends 

tThe  English  version — "As  a  lamp  despised" — is  barren  of  perti- 
nence and  good  sense,  and  ought  of  course  to  be  rejected  if  any  better 
construction  is  possible.  A  "lamp"  is  not  a  thing  to  be  despised 
anyhow,  and  no  reason  appears  why  "one  at  ease"  should  despise 
it.  The  construction  adopted  in  these  notes  is  perfectly  in  harmony 
with  the  verse  previous  and  with  the  entire  context. 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XII.  69 

also  knew,  that  freebooting  Avas  the  known  profession  and  pur- 
suit of  multitudes  of  men;  and  they  all  alike  knew  that  such  men 
were  more  often  successful,  secure,  unmolested,  than  otherwise. 

How  shall  such  a  fact  be  accounted  for?     How  (Job  would 

say)  do  ye  reconcile  it  with  your  doctrine  of  a  perfect  retribu- 
tion in  this  world  ?  A  fact  so  patent  to  every  mind ;  a  case  of 
such  outrageous  wickedness, .of  such  wide  extent,  so  universally 
known  and  so  very  rarely  brought  to  condign  punishment  in  this 
world,  was  itself  alone  sufficient  to  upset  the  theory  of  Job's 
friends.  So  long  as  this  great  fact  stood  before  their  eyes,  how 
could  sensible  men  hold  on  to  their  theory  that  all  wickedness  is 
punished  in  this  world,  swiftly  and  surely,  because  God  is  cer- 
tainly just  and  almighty? 

7.  But  ask  now  the  beasts,  and  they  shall  teach  thee ; 
and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  they  shall  tell  thee : 

8.  Or  speak  to  the  earth,  and  it  shall  teach  thee;  and  the 
fishes  of  the  sea  shall  declare  unto  thee. 

9.  Who  knoweth  not  in  all  these  that  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  hath  wrought  this? 

10.  In  whose  hand  is  the  soul  of  every  living  thing,  and 
the  breath  of  all  mankind. 

The  only  possible  way  to  break  the  force  of  Job's  argument 
from  these  prosperous  freebooters  would  be  to  say  that  their  case 
does  not  come  under  God's  administration;  that  such  crimes  lay 

outside  the  pale  of  his  government. To  this  supposed  objection 

therefore.  Job   now  addresses  himself. Do   you  say  that   God 

has  nothing  to  do  with  highway  robbers?  Go,  ask  the  beasts  and 
the  birds  of  heaven;  or  speak  to  the  earth  and  to  the  fishes 
of  the  sea.  They  surely  will  tell  thee.  Who  does  not  learn  from 
them  that  God's  hand  is  every-where,  active  evermore  in  all 
events,  holding  in  its  control  the  breath  of  every  living  thing, 
and  not  least  the  spirits  of  all  of  human  kind?  Does  not  God 
uphold  the  life  and  supply  the  breath  of  those  "robbers"  whose 
tents  are  in  peace  and  security  and  into  whose  hand  God  is  per- 
petually pouring  the  good  things  that  other  and  better  men  have 
honestly  toiled  to  produce  ? 

11.  Doth  not  the  ear  try  words?  and  the  mouth  taste  his 
meat? 

12.  With  the  ancient  is  wisdom;  and  in  length  of  days 
understanding. 

13.  With  him  is  wisdom  and  strength,  he  hath  counsel 
and  understanding. 

Doth  not  the  ear  try  words,  even  as  the  mouth  tasteth  its  own 
food  ? — not  two   questions,  but   one — the   second  clause  being  a 

*case  to  illustrate  the  point  of  the  first. Upon  Job's  argument 

the  point  made  here  bears  in  this  way :  Have  not  all  men  a  cer- 
tain good  sense  which  they  may  rightly  use  upon  such  questions 


70  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XII. 

as  we  have  now  in  hand — a  sense  as  truly  of  nature  as  their 
relish  for  bread  ?  And  if  ye  were  to  use  this  native  good  sense, 
would  ye  not  discern  at  once  that  yonr  theory  of  God's  rule  over 
human  affairs  is  utterly  at  variance  with  facts  well  and  univers- 
ally known  ? 

You  say — "With  the  ancients  is  wisdom",  and  you  appeal  to 

the  testimony  of  all  the  old  patriarcli^. To  which  I  reply — Not 

so  much  with  your  ancient  men,  but  with  Him,  the  Everlasting 
One,  is  real  wisdom  and  all  strength;  he  alone  hath  counsel  and 
understanding  in  their  consummate  perfection.  His  works  lie 
spread  out  before  us;  I  ai^peal  to  them.  God  is  both  older  and 
wiser  than  your  ancient  patriarchs ;  the  length  of  his  days  gives 
him  an  understanding  infinitely  higher,  better,  sui-er,  than  what 
ye  have  adduced  from  your  old  fathers. 

14.  Behold,  he  breaketh  down,  and  it  can  not  be  built 
again;  he  shuteth  up  a  man,  and  there  can  be  no  opening. 

15.  Behold,  he  withholdeth  the  waters,  and  they  dry  up: 
also  he  sendeth  them  out,  and  they  overturn  the  earth. 

Here  the  argument  appeals  mainly  to  God's  great  works  in  the 
material  world.  Is  not  his  power  in  this  realm  supreme?  Docs 
not  his  providence  reach  all  events?  Therefore  (this  is  the 
underlying  inference)  therefore  all  these  events  come  into  his  plan 
of  governing  the  world  morally,  so  that  if  we  see  the  powerful 
robbers  of  the  Great  Desert  (v.  6)  outrageously  wicked,  and  yet 
almost  universally  successful  and  unpunished  through  all  this 
earthly  life,  we  can  by  no  means  evade  the  testimony  from  their 
case  by  assuming  that  God's  government  over  men  leaves  them 
out. 

16.  With  him  is  strength  and  wisdom;  the  deceived  and 
the  deceiver  are  his. 

17.  He  leadeth  counsellors  away  spoiled,  and  maketh  the 
judges  fools. 

18.  He  looseth  the  bond  of  kings,  and  girdeth  their  loins 
with  a  girdle. 

19.  He  leadeth  princes  away  spoiled,  and  ovei'throweth  the 
mighty. 

20.  Pie  removeth  away  the  speech  of  tlie  trusty,  and 
taketh  away  the  understanding  of  the  aged. 

21.  He  poureth  contempt  upon  princes,  and  weakeneth  the 
strength  of  the  mighty. 

Here  Job  appeals  mainly  to  God's  agencies  upon  the  world  of 
mind — the  control  he  wields  over  various  classes  of  men  here 
specified.  Doubtless  Job  purposes  to  make  his  argument  rise 
from  the  special  to  the  universal,  on  this  wise :  The  destinies 
of  all  these  men  God  shapes  and  controls ;  and  if  of  these,  then 
no  less,  of  others — no  less,  of  all. "  The  deceived   and   the 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XH.  71 

deceiver  are  his"  (v.  16) — not  in  the  sense  of  his  -willing;, 
obedient  servants;  this  is  by  no  means  the  thing  he  means 
and  asserts;  but  they  are  so  entirely  in  hfs  hand  that  he  shapes 
their  destiny.  If  they  have  any  retribution  on  earth,  it  comes 
from  liis  hand.  If  they  escape  this  retribution  here,  the  fact 
proves  that  the  retributions  of  time  are  incomplete,  and  h?ave 
some,  perhaps  many,  things  to  be  set  right  in  the  great  hereafter. 

So   he    baffles    human    wisdom    (v.  17);    breaks    tlie    power 

of  kings,  or  gives  them  resistless  power  as  he  may  choose  (v.  18) ; 
for  in  oriental  imagery,  "girding  up  the  loins"  was  significant 
of  activity  and  power;  and  "loosening  the  girdle"  had  the  oppo- 
site  sense. In  v.   19,  the   word    "princes"    means   primarily 

j)riests,  who    in    those    early  ages  were  clothed  with    no    small 

measure  of  authority  in  civil  affairs. In  v.  20  we  may  read — 

From  men  long  trusted,  he  takes  away  the  lij) — the  power 
of  influence  by  speech.  So  also  the  wisdom  of  the  aged  he  with- 
draws, perhaps  referring  to  the  waning  of  their  powers  in  ex- 
treme old  age. The  noblest  of  men  are  as  nothing  before  him 

when  he  sees  fit  to  bring  them  low. 

22.  He  discoveretli  deep  things  out  of  darkness,  and 
bringeth  out  to  light  the  shadow  of  death, 

23.  He  increaseth  the  nations,  and  destroyelh  them  :  lie 
enlargeth  the  nations,  and  straiteneth  them  again. 

24.  He  taketli  away  the  heart  of  the  chief  of  the  people 
of  the  earth,  and  eauseth  them  to  wander  in  a  wilderness 
where  there  is  no  way. 

25.  They  grope  in  the  dark  without  ligkt,  and  he  maketh 
them  to  stagger  like  a  drunken  man. 

The  same  strain  of  remark  and  the  same  course  of  argument 

continues  through  the  chapter. "  Discover" — a  word  which  in 

modern  usage  signifies  commonly,  to  find  by  search,  in  the  age  of 
our  English  Bible  meant  to  reveal  io  the  vieio  of  others,  i.  e.,  to 
take  off  the  covering: — which  is  the  sense  here.  Deep  things, 
God  brings  up  out  of  the  darkness;  things  dark  as  the  shadow  of 

death,  he  brings  forth  to  the  light. So  if  nations  rise  into  great 

power  or  decline  into  weakness  and  ruin,  it  is  his  hand  that  works 
both  results,  at  his  perfect  will  (v.  23).  The  wisdom  ("  heart") 
of  the  wisest  counsellor,  he  takes  away  at  his  pleasure,  and  puts 
them  upon  wandering  in  untrodden  ways.  They  grope  as  if  there 
were  no  light  for  them,  and  reel  as  men  under  intoxication.  Thus 
God's  agencies  over  men  are  at  once  supreme,  absolute  and  uni- 
versal. 


72  THE  BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XIII. 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Job^s  speech  continued. 

1.  Lo,  mine  eye  hath  seen  all  this,  mine  ear  hath  heard 
and  understood  it. 

2.  What  ye  know,  the  same  do  I  know  also:  I  am  not 
inferior  unto  you. 

Such  have  been  the  results  of  my  personal  observations.  I 
know  these  things  because  I  have  seen  them.  Fully  aware  that 
ye  have  said  much  the  same  things  as  to  God's  control  over  all 
human  affiiirs,  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  I  am  fully  informed 
as  to  these  things  no  less  than  yourselves. 

3.  Surely  I  Avould  sjieak  to  the  Almighty,  and  I  desire  to 
reason  with  God. 

But  from   all  your  reasonings  and  allegations  against  me,  I 

make  my  final  appeal  to  the  Almighty. Job  makes  the  word 

"I"  strongly  emphatic: — I  for  my  part — I  with  all  my  heart, 
make  this  appeal  to  God.  Oh  how  do  I  long  for  a  hearing  before 
Him! 

4.  But  ye  are  forgers  of  lies,  ye  are  all  physicians  of  no 
value. 

5.  Oh  that  ye  would  altogether  hold  your  peace!  and  it 
should  be  your  wisdom. 

6.  Hear  now  my  reasoning,  and  hearken  to  the  pleadings 
of  my  lips. 

"But  ye" — this  word  also  is  made  emphatic — "ye  are  only 
forgers  of  lies,  woi-king  up  false  charges  against  me  continually.  ' 

"  Physicians "    does    not    Well    translate    eJob's    word    here. 

Botchers,  patchers,  is  the  sense.  Ye  are  makers  of  vanities,  i.  e., 
lies ;  and  botch  the  work  at  that — the  figure  being  drawn  from 
putting  ugly  looking  patches  upon  worn  garments.  How  much 
vriser  and  more  to  your  credit,  to  hold  your  peace !  But  at  least 
give  ear  for  a  little  to  my  reasonings  and  to  the  pleadings  of  my 
lips. 

7.  Will  ye  speak  wickedly  for  God  ?  and  talk  deceitfully 
for  him  ? 

8.  Will  ye  accept  his  person  ?  will  ye  contend  for  God  ? 

9.  Is  it  good  that  he  should  search  you  out?  or  as  one  man 
mocketh  another,  do  ye  so  mock  him  ? 

10.  He  will  surely  reprove  you,  if  ye  do  secretly  accept 
persons. 

Would  ye  speak  falsely  in  God's  behalf!  Does  He  ask  you  to 
vindicate  him  with  falsehood  and  deceit?    Can  he  possibly  accept 


THE   BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XIII.  73 

such   vindication? To    "accept  one's  person"  is  a  phrase  of 

well  defined  meaning  in  the  Scriptures— it  being  always  used  in 
the  bad  sense  of  sinister  partiality,  regarding  something  external, 
the  outside  appearance,  rather  than  intrinsic  merit.  Job  inti- 
mates that  his  friends  were  pleading  for  God  on  false  grounds, 
assuming  falsely,  through  their  own  mistake,  that  God  was  acting 
on  certain  principles  when  he  was  not.  Could  this  be  pleasing  to 
God  ?  How  would  it  fare  with  you  if  God  were  to  search  you  out 
and  say  to  you — I  ask  no  such  defense  from  you !  Cease  your  at- 
tempt to  justify  me  on  false  grounds,  or  to  vindicate  me  as  if  I 
were  doing  what  I  am  not!  God  will  surely  rebuke  you  if  ye 
accept  persons,  and  none  the  less  because  it  is  attempted  upon 
himself. 

11.  Shall  not  his  excellency  iiiake  you  afruid?  and  hi.s 
di-ead  fall  upon  you  ? 

Considering  the  sublime  majesty  of  God — his  ineffable  glory — 
does  it  not  become  you  to  dread  his  displeasure  ?  ,  Even  though 
ye  may  have  intended  to  do  him  honor,  yet  to  misapprehend  the 
principles  on  which  he  governs  this  world  and  make  apologies 
and  vindications  for  him  which  rest  on  false  assumptions,  must  be 
a  very  serious  matter !     Let  the  fear  of  it  make  you  cautious  ! 

12.  Your  remembrances  are  like  unto  ashes,  your  bodies 
to  bodies  of  clay. 

The  word  "  remembrances  "  will  probably  mislead  the  English 
reader,  for  the  original  here  by  no  means  signifies  your  recollec- 
tions, or  the  things  you  remember;  but  instead  of  this — yonx  most 
memorahle  things,  your  wisest  sayings.  They  are  only  as  ashes; 
flavorless,  caustic,  all  unfit  for  any  use  in  the  human  mouth  or 

stomach. The   translation — "Your  bodies" — is   no  less  inept 

and  misleading.  "Bulwarks"  or  "towers,"  is  the  sense — the 
term  appl^'ing  to  their  main  arguments  which  they  assumed  to  be 
impregnable  rock;  but  Job  declares  to  be  only  towers  of  clay, 
such  as  the  rains  of  heaven  would  soon  wash  away. 

13.  Hold  your  peace,  let  me  alone,  that  I  may  speak,  and 
let  come  on  me  what  tvill. 

14.  AVherefore  do  I  take  ray  flesh  m  my  teeth,  and  put 
my  life  in  mine  hand  ? 

This  V.  13  serves  to  show  how  deeply  Job  felt  the  insinuations 
and  assumptions  of  his  three  friends.  He  begs  that  they  would 
be  silent  and  let  him  speak  in  his  own  vindication,  whatever  may 
come  upon  him  as  the  consequence.  Let  me  defend  my  reputation 
against  your  false  and  cruel  aspersions,  though  it  cost  me   every 

thing  dear,  even  to  life  itself! In  v.   14,  the  phrase — ^"  Take 

my  flesh  in  my  teeth  "  is  in  itself  very  obscure,  it  being  doubtful 
what  the  precise  figure  in  mind  may  be.  But  the  second  clause 
"  Put  my  life  in  my  hand,"  has  a  well  established  usage,  and 
therefore,  under  the  law  of  Hebrew  parallelism,  serves  to  deter- 


74  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP,    XIII. 

juine  the  general  meaning  of  the  first  clause.  This  second  pro- 
verbial phrase  is  used  by  Jephthah  of  himself  (Judg.  12:  3);  of 
David  bv  Jonathan  (1  Sam.  19:  5);  by  the  woman  of  Endor  of 
herself  (1  Sam.  28:  21);  and  by  the  writer  of  Ps.  119:  109  of 
himself  Job's  meaning,  therefore,  must  be — Wherefore  do  I  put 
my  life  in  jeopardy  before  God  by  such  a  bold  request,  not  to  say, 
demand,  for  a  hearing  upon  my  own  case?  Nothing  less  than  a 
deep  consciousness  of  general  integi'ity  and  an  irrepressible  long- 
ing to  be  vindicated  from  such  aspersions  as  yours  could  induce 
me  to  risk  such  a  peril. 

15.  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him  :  but  I  will 
maiutain  mine  own  ways  before  liim. 

16.  He  also  sJmll  be  my  salvation  ;  for  a  hypocrite  shall  not 
come  before  him. 

Our  English  version — "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in 
him  " — yields  a  precious  sentiment,  expressing  a  spirit  of  trust 
which,  though  desperate,  is  yet  admirable  and  blessed.  ]>ut  the 
honest  interpreter  of  the  original  words  is  compelled  to  dissent 
from  the  correctness  of  this  translation.  The  fii'st  Hcb.  word  ia 
certainly  not  "  Though ",  but  Behold.  The  next  word  is  the 
simple  future — "  He  loill  slay  me ^  The  word  next  in  order,  ac- 
cording to  the  Hebrew  text,  {i.  e.,  the  consonants)  must  be  the 
negative  pai'ticle — not ;  I  may  not  hope.  I  can  have  no  hope,  i.  e., 
of  my  life  before  him.  Then  he  proceeds  to  say — Yet  I  will  de- 
fend my  ways  before  him — in  his  presence. The  next  verse 

presents  Job  renewing  his  confidence  in  God  :  "  Also  he  shall  be 
my  salvation,  because  the  bold  notorious  sinner  shall  not  come 
before  him  :" — but  he  tacitly  implies — I  am  not  such  ;  I  am  substan- 
tially honest  and  true  to  God,  and  such  as  1  am  may  come  into  his 

presence. The  word  rendered  "hypocrite"  can  not  be  restricted 

to  that  form  of  sin,  but  is  used  of  one  whose  sinful  character  is 

known  and  read  of  all. "He  will   slay  me"  may  be  taken  to 

express  the  feeling  that  Job  had,  at  least  in  his  most  depressed 
moods — a  feeling  that  he  could  not  long  survive  his  dreadful  suf- 
ferings and  should  probably  soon  die  under  them.  But  even 
should  this  be  the  case,  he  longed  for  the  opportunity  to  vindicate 
himself  against  the  aspersions  cast  on  him  so  cruelly  by  his  friends. 
So  deep  was  his  consciousness  of  general  integrity  toward  God, 
as  opposed  to  the  arrant  hypocrisy  imputed  to  him  by  his  friends 
that  he  does  not  fear  at  all  to  come  before  God  on  this  issue.  In- 
deed, the  very  thought  of  such  a  hearing  before  God  inspires  an 
assurance  that  God  will  yet  deliver  his  name  from  this  reproach 
and  cause  him  to  lift  up  his  head  as  one  vindicated  before  his 
generation. 

17.  Hear  diligently  my  speech,  and  my  declaration  with 
your  ears. 

18.  Behold  now,  I  have  ordered  my  cause;  I  know  that 
I  shall  be  justified. 


THE     BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XIII.  75 

Hear  me;  I  have  prepared  my  defense:  "I  know  that  I  am 
innocent" — or  rather,  just — this  beinc;  more  precisely  the  sense 
of  the  Hebrew  verb.  It  is  not  so  much  an  assurance  tliat  the 
proposed  hearing  and  trial  will  result  in  acquittal,  as  a  conscious- 
ness of  being  innocent  of  the  charge  of  hj^pocrisy,  brought  against 
him  by  his  friends. 

19.  Who  is  he  that  will  plead  with  me  ?  for  now,  if  I  hold 
my  tongue,  I  shall  give  up  the  gho.'^t. 

Who  can  contend  with  me,  i.  e.,  successfully,  on  this  point? 
For  if  any  one  can,  with  success,  I  will  hold  my  peace  and  die  ! 

It  were  of    no  use  for  me  to  live  ! The   Heb.   words  by  no 

means  sustain  the  English  version — "If  I  hold  my  tongue,  I 
shall  die."  There  is  no  "?/"  in  the  Hebrew.  Two  future  tenses 
of  apparently  like  future  significance,  are  all  we  have,  I  will  (or 
would)  be  silent,  and  I  will  die  !  The  sense,  therefore,  must  be 
as  above  given :  If  any  one  can  contend  eflfectually  against  me  so 
that  my  attempted  vindication  must  prove  a  failure,  I  might  as 
well  be  silent  and  die  ! 

20.  Only  do  not  two  tJiings  unto  me;  then  will  I  not  hide 
myself  from  thee. 

21.  Withdraw  thine  hand  far  from  me:  and  let  not  thy 
dread  make  me  afraid. 

22.  Then  call  thou,  and  I. will  answer:  or  let  me  speak, 
and  answer  thou  me. 

Xow,  thinking  of  God  as  the  Judge  before  whom  he  is  to  plead 
his  cause,  he  begs  to  stipulate  two  conditions;  viz.,  (a)  That  God 
would  lift  from  him  that  heavy  hand  and  relieve  his  insupportable 
pains;  (6)  That  he  would  withdraw  his  terrors  and  not  over- 
whelm his  soul  with  dread.  Then  the  Lord  might  call,  speaking 
first,  and  Job  would  answer;  or,  in  the  reverse  order — "Let  me 
speak,  and  answer  thou  me." 

23.  How  many  are  mine  iniquities  and  sins  ?  make  me  to 
know  my  transgression  and  my  sin. 

21.  Wherefore  hidest  thou  thy  fice,  and  holdest  me  for 
thine  enemy  ? 

25.  Wilt  thou  break  a  leaf  driven  to  and  fro?  and  wilt 
thou  pursue  the  dry  stubble? 

"  How  many  and  what  are  my  sins  ?"  for  Job  manifestly  assumes 
that  he  has  sinned  and  can  by  no  means  make  out  his  own  sinless 
innocence.  He  seems  honestly  desirous  to  know  what  they  are 
and  why  God  has  been  afliicting  him  so  fearfully.  It  was  agoniz- 
ing that  God  should  seem  to  hide  his  face  and  treat  him  as  an 
enemy.  Why  should  this  be? — In  v.  25  Job  expresses  his  sense 
of  his  own  littleness  and  frailty,  and  makes  this  a  plea  with  God 
to  spare  him.  The  word  Job  used  means,  not — "  break  a  driven 
leaf,"  but  terrify,  put  in  awful  fear. 


76  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP,    XIV. 

26.  For  tliou  writest  bitter  things  against  me,  and  makest 
me  to  possess  the  iniquities  of  my  youth. 

27.  Thou  puttest  my  feet  also  in  the  stocks,  and  lookest 
narrowly  unto  all  my  paths ;  thou  settest  a  prijit  upon  the 
heels  of  my  feet. 

28.  And  he,  as  a  rotten  thing,  consumeth,  as  a  garment 
that  is  moth-eaten. 

"Writest  bitter  things'' — for  so  these  terrible  inflictions  upon 
me  naust  imply.  I  am  made  to  inherit  the  sins  of  my  youth — the 
bitter  consequences  of  early  sins  following  me  thus,  far  down  into 
these  years  of  my  advanced  age.  So  it  seemed  to  him — perhaps 
because  he  could  account  for  these  inflictions  of  disease  and  pain 
on  no  other  principle.  This  law  of  inheritance  is  (alas  for  thou- 
sands) but  too  sure  and  too  terrible ! In  v.  27,  the  words — 

"Settest  a  print  upon  the  heels  of  my  feet" — fail  to  give  the  most 
approved  sense  of  the  Hebrew.  The  lexical  authorities  diSer 
slightly  from  each  other;  one  putting  it — To  dig  a  trench  or  draw 
a  line  round  the  soles  of  my  feet:  another,  to  put  thyself  as  a 
limit  round,  etc.  All  concur  in  the  sense — shutting  in ;  circum- 
scribing within  limits  beyond  which  he  could  not  pass.     Job  was 

shut  up,  and  could  move  nowhere  to  escape  from  his  woes. In 

V.  28,  all  critics  concur  that  the  words  refer  to  Job,  speaking  of 
himself; — I  perish,  like  a  thing  thoroughly  rotten,  as  a  garment 
moth-eaten  through  and  through.  There  is  no  stamina  left  in  me 
for  longer  endurance.  * 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Job's  speech  concluded. 

1.  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  is  of  few  days,  and  full  of 
trouble. 

2.  He  Cometh  forth  like  a  flower,  and  is  cut  down  :  he 
fleeth  also  as  a  shadow,  and  continueth  not. 

3.  And  dost  thou  open  thine  eyes  upon  such  a  one,  and 
bringest  me  into  judgment  with  thee? 

4.  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ?  not  one. 

"Man" — the  Heb.  word  chosen  here  suggesting  the  ground  out 
of  which  he  was  formed — has  at  best  but  few  days  on  earth,  and 
those,  full  of  turmoil,  unrest.  He  comes  into  being,  fresh  and 
blooming  as  the  flower;  but  like  this  same  flower,  he  is  soon  cut 
off.  He  flees  as  the  (not  a)  shadow — /.  e.,  as  the  swiftly  lengthen- 
ing shadow  toward  evening;  and  tarries  not.  Like  that  shadow, 
he  too  is  soon  gone. — Upon  such  an  one  (for  such  am  I)— upon 


THE  BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XIV.  77 

one  so  frail,  so  short-lived,  dost  thou  open  thine  eyes  to  fasten 
them  upon  me  and  bring  me  into  judgment  with  thee?  This  is  a 
plea  for  consideration,  not  to  say,  commiseration,  in  view  of  his 
frailty. — He  proceeds  to  add  another  point  to  his  plea — this  being 
taken  from  the  foct  of  an  impure  ancestry — a  parentage  which  in 
some  undefined  way  involved  sin.  "  Who  can  produce  a  clean 
thing  fi'om  an  unclean?  Xot  one  can  do  this." — The  Hebrew  for 
the  verb — "can  produce,"  or  "can  bring,"  is  literally,  W/w  will 
give  1  but  of  some  twenty  or  more  cases  of  its  use  in  our  Hebrew 
scriptures,  it  has  almost  if  not  quite  invariably  the  optative  sense — 
O  that  one  could  bring,  etc  !  In  this  passage,  the  optative  wish  is 
not  congruous  with  the  answer — "Not  one,"  since  this  manifestly 
calls  for  the  question — Who  can  ?  In  what  way  moral  unclean- 
ness  inheres  in  the  human  mother  and  attaches  to  her  offspring. 
Job  does  not  indicate.  He  leaves  us  to  adopt  some  theoi-y  Avhich 
will  neither  implicate  the  divine  justice  on  the  one  hand,  nor  on 
the  other,  abrogate  human  individual  responsibility  for  every 
thing  that  is  actual  sin.  All  theories  on  this  point  ought  mani- 
festly to  be  constructed  within  and  under  these  limitations. 

5.  Seeing  his  days  are  determined,  the  number  of  liis 
months  are  with  thee,  thou  hast  appointed  his  bounds  that 
he  can  not  pass ; 

6.  Turn  from  him,  that  he  may  rest,  till  he  shall  accom- 
plish, as  a  hireling,  his  day. 

Strictly  taken,  these  Hebrew  words  mean — If  his  days  are  fixed, 
if  ih.Q  number  of  his  months  is  with  thee — ordained  by  thy  will, 
etc.;  then  (v.  6)  turn  thine  eye  away  from  him,  etc.  But  this  "  if" 
does  not  suggest  any  doubt  of  the  fact,  and  is  therefore  equiva- 
lent to — Inasmuch  as  this  is  so. That  he  "  may  accowplish  his 

day"  should  leather  be — that  he  may  enjoy,  take  delight  in  his 
day — a  plea  based  on  the  extreme  shortness  of  human  life,  that 
God  would  be  lenient  to  frail,  short-lived  man  and  indulge  him  to 
enjoy  his  brief  life-time  as  best  he  may.  As  the  hireling  has 
just  his  one  day  to  make  out,  so  has  man  on  earth  only  his  brief 
life-day. 

7.  For  there  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it 
will  sprout  again,  and  that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will 
not  cease. 

8.  Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth,  and  the 
stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground; 

9.  Yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud,  and  bring 
forth  boughs  like  a  plant. 

10.  But  man  dieth,  and  wasteth  away;  yea,  man  giveth 
up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he? 

Man  lives  one  life-time  on  earth — no  more.  When  he  is  cut 
down,  he  never  shoots  up  again  from  the  stump  or  stock.  There 
is  such  hope   for  the  tree.     Though  cut  down,  and  though  the 


78  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XIV. 

root  be  ever  much  decayed  in  the  ground,  the  scent  of  water  at 
its  roots  may  start  it  into  fresh  life ;  but  never  is  it  so  with  man. 
He  dies — and  where  is  he  ?     We  see  him  no  more. 

The  careful  reader  of  this  chapter  will  be  reminded  continually 
of  Psalm  90:— written  by  Moses — shall  we  say,  by  the  same 
Moses  f  The  tone  of  each  is  almost  identical ;  the  figures  and 
images  are  to  a  remai'kable  degree  the  same.  In  the  Psalm — 
"Thou  turnest  man  to  destruction":  In  this  poem — "Man  dieth 
and  wasteth  aAvay;  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  Avhere  is  he"  ? 
I'he  Psalmist  says — "Thou  carryest  them  away  as  with  a  flood"; 
Job  has  it — "The  watej-s  wear  the  stones;  its  flood  sweeps  away 

the  dust  of  the  earth;  so  thou  destroyest  the  hope  of  man." 

More  definitely  still : — the  Psalm  has  it — "  In  the  morning  they 
are  like  grass  which  groweth  up;  in  the  morning  it  flourisheth 
and  groweth  up:  in  the  evening  it  is  cut  down  and  withereth." 
In  Job  we  read — "He  cometh  forth  like  a  flower  and  is  cut 
down".  "There  is  hope  for  a  tree  that  though  cut  down,  it  may 
live  again;  but  man  dieth  and  wasteth  away  "  ; — "  lieth  down  and 
riseth  up  no  more."  And  finally  these  passages  alike  ascribe  hu- 
man mortality  and  frailty  to   the  wrath  of  God  against  man  for 

his  sin. More  decisive  indications,  in  two  distinct  compositions, 

of  the  same  originating  mind,  the  same  imagination,  the  same 
mode  of  viewing  a  given  subject — a  similarity  so  entire  as  to 
indicate  if  not  even  actually  prove  identity  of  authorship — it 
would  not  be  easy  to  find. 

11.  As  the  waters  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  flood  decayeth 
.and  drieth  up ; 

12.  So  man  lieth  down,  and  riseth  not:  till  the  heavens 
be  no  more,  they  shall  not  awake,  nor  be  raised  out  of  their 
sleep. 

The  "sea"  thought  of  here,  is  not  "the  great  and  wide  sea" 
whose  waters  never  fail;  but  inland  ponds  or  pools  which,  in 
tropical  and  desert  regions,  are  subject  to  disappear  in  drought. 
With  these  man  may  be  compared ;  his  life-waters  dry  away 
and   disappear;  he    lieth   down   to  rise  no   more   to  resume  his 

earthly  life — never  till  the   heavens  pass  away. We  need  not 

press  this  to  the  extent  of  denying  a  final  resurrection  at 
the  last  day.  The  writer  manifestly  thinks  only  of  a  resumption 
of  this  earthly  life,  analogous  to  that  of  a  tree  cut  off  near  the 
ground,  which  may  shoot  up  again.  Such  resumption  of  earthly 
life  is  to  man,  in  all  his  generations,  for  ever  hopeless. 

13.  Oh  that  thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  the  grave,  that  thou 
wouldest  keep  me  secret,  until  thy  wrath  be  past,  that  thou 
wouldest  appoint  me  a  set  time,  and  remember  me! 

14.  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  f  all  the  days  of 
my  appointed  time  will  I  wait,  till  my  change  come. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XIV.  79 

15.  Thou  shalt  call,  and  I  Avill  answer  thee:  thou  wilt 
have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  thine  hands. 

Again  Job's  mind  fulls  back  upon  himself — his  desolate,  hope- 
less present;  his  pains  that  will  not  let  up;  his  fast  waning  life- 
powers,  and  his  utter  hopelessness  of  any  thing  better  for  this 
fleeting  life.  Therefore  he  looks  forward  for  his  only  hope  to  the 
state  beyond.  "  Oh  that  thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  the  under- 
world (Sheol) — not  the  grave  which  receives  the  body;  it  av;is 
not  for  his  perishing  body  that  he  sought  a  hiding-place  from  the 
wrath    of   God ;   but   rather   for   that  portion   of   his   being  that 

could  not  die ! And  then  I  pray  also  that  thou  wouldest  set  the 

time  for  my  release  from  that  dark  under-world,  that  "  land  of 
darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  without  any  order,  and  where 
the  light  is  as  darkness",  as  himself  has  described  it  (10:  21,  22). 

Appoint  me  a  time  and  remember  me  for  good. Thus  Job  raises 

and  meets  that  one  most  momentous  of  all  human  questions: — "If 
a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  "  ? — which  here  must  be  taken  in  its 
broadest  and  most  f\xr-reaching  application  ; — Shall  he  live  again 
ever — again,  on  beyond  his  life-period  in  that  dark  under-w^orld  ? 
For  in  its  application  to  the  present  world,  he  had  settled 
the  question  most  decisively  already,  and  it  were  simple  fatuity 
to  ask  it  again.  The  tree,  cut  down,  may  spring  up  again  from  its 
roots,  even  though  much  decayed ;  but  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  to 

live   here    again   never,  no    never ! But   the    question    in    its 

broader  and  far  more  remote  application  yet  remains.  Is  there 
still  another  life-period  beyond  man's  hiding-place  in  Sheol — after 
his  abode,  be  it  more  or  less  protracted,  in  that  under-Avorld  ? 
Upon  this  his  mind  now  fastens  itself,  and  with  this  in  view,  he 
prays — "  Oh  that  thou  wouldest  appoint  me  a  set  time— -fix  the 

period  of  its  duration — and  remember  me"  ! But  is  it  really 

so,  that  man,  once  departed  from  this  life  and  hidden  in  the  dark 
under-world,  shall  live  again — passing  into  another  and  more 
glorious  life  ?  Assuming  this  to  be  the  case,  he  says — Then  will 
I  wait  on  patiently,  all  the  days  of  my  ivarfare  (the  usual  and 
proper  sense  of  his  word) — all  the  period  of  my  enlistment 
and  hard  service  as  it  were  under  arms — until  my  great  change 
comes — my  glad  release  and  discharge.  This  must  refer  to  that 
momentous  change  which  will  raise  him  out  from  the  under- 
world (Sheol)  into  some  better  life  beyond.  Up  into  that  more 
glorious  life.  Thou  wilt  call  me;  and  oh  how  gladly  shall  I  an- 
swer thee  I  I  know  thou  wilt  j^earn  with  longing  desire  for  man, 
the  work  of  thine  own  hands.  Surely  the  Great  and  Loving 
Father  can  not,  will  not  forget  the  creatures  of  his  hand,  the  dear 
objects  of  his  care.  The  verb  which  Job  used  here  expresses  the 
deepest  longings  of  one's  heart. 

16.  For  now  thou  numberest  my  steps  :  dost  thou  not 
watch  over  my  sin  ? 

17.  My  transgression  is  sealed  up  in  a  bag,  and  thou  sew- 
cst  up  mine  iniquity. 


80  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XIV. 

The  relation  of  thought  which  connects  these  verses  and  all 
that  remain  in  this  chapter,  with  vs.  13-15  above,  requires  and 

will  reward  the  closest  attention. In  the  verses  last  preceding, 

we  have  seen  gleams  of  light  breaking  forth  from  the  far  distant 
future  upon  this  great  sufferer's  afflicted  heart.  But  plainly,  he 
does  not  pause  to  enjoy  them  long.  Is  it  due  (perhaps  it  is)  to 
the  terrible  severity  of  his  pains  that  he  can  keep  his  thought 
away  from  his  sad  present  only  for  a  moment,  and  then  it  will 
return,  as  here  ?  Perhaps  he  thinks  of  justifying  that  outburst  of 
strong  emotion  in  the  prayer  (v.  13) ;  "  Oh  that  God  would  hide  me 
in  the  under-world  till  his  wrath  be  past!"  For  consider,  how 
full  of  trial  and  solicitude  is  this  present  state  of  mine  !  For  now 
Thou  art  numbering  my  steps,  subjecting  every  movement  to  the 
most  rigid  scrutiny,  watching  as  it  were  with  eagle  eye  for  my 
sin;  then  sealing  up  in  a  bag  all  my  iniquities  for  some  future 
re-examination  and  pei-haps  for  a  yet  more  terrible  retribution. 
So  we  must  understand  these  words  and  must  assume  that  they 
put  Job's  case  as  it  seemed  to  him  under  the  pressure  of  unre- 
lieved suffering  and  of  that  state  of  perplexity,  amounting  almost 
to  distraction,  under  which  he  could  see  no  reason  why  he  was 
singled  out  for  such  unexampled  suffering. 

In  the  phrase — "  sewest  up  mine  iniquity,"  some  critics  give 
the  verb  the  secondary  sense  (which  appears  in  13  :  4  ) — Thou 
patchest  up  false  charges — devising,  working  up  charges  beyond 
what  the  truth  will  warrant.  Against  this  sense  of  the  verb  in 
this  passage,  it  should  suffice  to  say  :  (a)  That  it  is  too  revolting 
in  its  bearing  upon  God  to  be  ascribed  to  Job,  unless  the  usage 
of  the  vei'b  absolutely  demands  it — which  it  does  not:  and  (b) 
That  the  law  of  parallelism  justifies,  not  to  say  requires,  the  other 
sense,  given  above — Thou  sewest  up  as  well  as  sealest  up — for  safe 

presei'vation. The  salient  point  of  thought  here  is  the  endur- 

inrj  nature  of  sin;  that  sins  committed  against  God  can  never 
drop  into  oblivion.  No  lapse  of  time  sweeps  them  away;  no  for- 
gctfulness  abates  their  vivid  impression  upon  the  Infinite  Mind. 
They  live  on,  they  are  sealed  up  and  pass  on  down  the   ages  to 

their  final  retribution  ! This  seems  to  be  the  point  of  thought 

from  which  is  suggested  to  the  mind  of  Job  tlie  contrast  which  ap- 
pears in  the  next  verse  ;  viz.,  between  never  forgotten  sins  on  the 
one  hand  ;  and  the  mortal  part  of  man — his  earthly  hopes  and  his 
earthly  thoughts  and  activities  on  the  other. 

18.  And  surely  the  mountain  falling  cometh  to  nought, 
and  the  rock  is  removed  out  of  his  place. 

19.  The  waters  wear  the  stones ;  thou  washest  away  the 
things  which  grow  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth  ;  and  thou 
destroyest  the  hope  of  man. 

20.  Thou  prevailest  forever  against  him,  and  he  passetli : 
thou  changest  his  countenance,  and  sendest  him  away. 

2-1.  His  sons  come  to  honor,  and  he  knoweth  it  not;  and 
they  are  brought  loAV,  but  he  perceiveth  it  not  of  them. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XIV.  81 

22.  But  his  flesh  upon  him  shall  have  pahi,  and  his  soul 
within  him  shall  mourn. 

The  first  Ileb.  word  of  this  passage  should  not  be  read  "  surely,'' 
for  it  means  But,  in  the  strongly  adversative  sense  •which  indi- 
cates a  contrast  as  suggested  above.  But,  -while  sins,  the  trans- 
gressions of  men,  have  in  them  no  element  of  decay ;  while  they 
never  cease  to  be  ;  while  they  live  on  and  on — treasured  up  by 
the  great  moral  Ruler  of  the  universe — every  thing  that  is  only 
material,  of  perishable  matter,  passes  soon  away.  The  mountain 
crest,  loosened  by  frost,  or  broken  off  by  the  lightnings  of  heaven, 
falls  from  its  lofty  height  and  comes  to  nought  (/.  e.,  is  a  mount- 
ain no  more).  Even  rocks  are  uptorn  from  their  place  by  the 
earthquake.  Water  wears  away  even  the  stones  ;  its  floods  (Heb. 
something  jr)o?(refZ  out)  sweep  away  the  dust  of  the  earth,  washing 
down  the  hills  and  bearing  away  the  debris:  so  Thou  destroyest 
the  hope  of  man.  Thou  dost  overpower  him  continually  (v.  20) 
and  he  goeth  hence.  "  Thou  changest  his  countenance  "  from  the 
joyous  freshness  of  health,  to  the  paleness  of  disease  and  the 
ghastliness  of  death,  and  then  sendest  him  away  !  His  sons  sur- 
vive him  for  a  little  season,  perhaps  they  rise  to  honor,  but  he 
knows  it  not,  or  if  they  are  brought  low,  he  is  equally  uncon- 
scious of  their  state.  His  body  mouldering  in  the  grave  and 
his  soul  in  that  dark  under-world^how  can  he  know  and  why 
should  he  care  what  may  befall  his  sons  who  survive  him?  Job 
certainly  assumes  that  the  dead  have  no  knowledge  of  even  their 

nearest  and  dearest  surviving  friends. We  must  commence  v.  22, 

with  the  word  "  only,"  for  this  is  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  word 
— indicating  that  this  and  this  only  is  all  we  can  say  of  the  de- 
parted one.  He  lives  within  himself;  he  is  shut  up  to  his  own 
thought — to  his  own  pain  if  pain  be  his  lot,  or  to  his  own  joy  if 
his  lot  be  one  of  joy.  So  I  think  we  must  understand  this  last 
verse  of  Job's  speech.  Conant's  translation  represents  the  Hebrew 
better  than  our  received  version  does  : — "  Only  his  flesh  for  itself 
shall  have  pain,  and  his  soul  for  itself  shall  mourn."  This  seems 
to  be  put  in  antithesis  with  a  state  of  symj^athy  with  the  case  of 
his  living  sons.  Such  sympatliy  Job  denies.  The  depar.ted  father 
has  no  knowledge  of  his  living  sons  :  he  lives  wholly  and  only 
within  his  own  realm  of  inner  consciousness,  cognizant  of  his  own 
sufierings  or  joys,  and  of  none  save  his  own.  This  seems  to  be 
the  sense  of  his  words,  and  should  therefore  be  taken  as  the  doc- 
trine held  by  himself  and  probably  by  the  men  of  his  times.  How 
much  light  from  revelation  on  these  points  had  dawned  upon  the 
leading  minds  of  that  age,  it  seems  quite  impossible  to  determine. 
It  is  very  clear  that  no  certain  knowledge  on  this  subject  can  be 
reached  by  the  wise  men  of  any  age,  be  it  never  so  ancient  or  so 
modern,  save  as  such  knowledge  comes  to  them  from  God.  He 
and  he  only  has  this  knowledge;  he  and  he  only  can  impart  it. 


82  THE   BOOK    OF   JOB.  — CHAP.   XV. 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Second  speech  of  EliplMZ. 

1.  Then  answered  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  and  said, 

2.  Should  a  wise  man  utter  vain  knowledge,  and  fill  his 
belly  with  the  east  wind  '? 

3.  Should  he  reason  with  un2:)rofi table  talk?  or  with 
speeches  wherewith  he  can  do  no  good? 

In  the  established  order  of  speaking,  it  falls  now  to  Eliphaz  to 
speak  the  second  time.  Following  the  usual  but  by  no  means 
commendable  practice  of  warm  disputants,  he  opens  with  cutting 
sarcasm  : — Does  it  befit  a  wise  man,  such  as  you  profess  to  be,  to 
respond  with  knowledge  that  is  only  windy  (literally,  "  knowledge 
of  wind") — good  for  sound,  but  void  of  sense;  put  forthwith  long 
and  abundant  talk,  but  without  pertinence,  solid  argument  or  real 
wisdom  ?  Shall  a  wise  man  fill  his  belly  with  the  east  wind — 
not  only  vain  in  the  sense  of  being  empty  of  thought,  but  violent 
and  destructive  ?  Should  a  man  of  wisdom  fill  his  belly  with 
tornadoes,  to  blow  ofi^  in  tempests  of  desolating  words?  reproving 
with  speech  that  avails  nothing  and  words  in  which  is  no  profit  ? 
From  the  point  where  Eliphaz  stood — to  a  mind  full  of  notions 
like  his  as  to  God's  administration  of  events  in  the  present,  all 
Job's  words  would  doubtless  seem  windy  and  worthless.  Even 
that  sad  spectacle  of  suffering  fell  on  his  soul,  not  stirring  one 
impulse  of  sympathy,  but  only  proving  to  him  according  to  his 
doctrine  that  Job  was  the  wickedest  of  men.  Hence  in  his  view 
all  Job's  words  were  wide  of  the  truth  and  served  only  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  repentance — squarely  in  the  way  of  his  only  salvation. 
So  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  rebuke  his  friend  in  the  plainest 
terms — as  we  shall  see. 

4.  Yea,  thou  castest  off  fear,  and  restrainest  prayer  before 
God. 

*  5.  For  thy  mouth  uttereth  thine  iniquity,  and  thou  choosest 
the  tongue  of  the  crafty. 

6.  Thine  own  mouth  condemneth  thee,  and  not  I :  yea, 
thine  own  lips  testify  against  thee. 

"  Fear,"  in  the  sense  common  in  the  Old  Testament,  is  piety; 
while  the  verb  "  cast  off"  looks  not  merely  to  an  effect  upon  him- 
self, but  upon  others  as  well ; — Thou  dost  annul,  abolish  all  piety. 
The  things  thou  sayest  against  God  tend  to  displace  the  very 
foundations  of  piety  and  make  men  think  that  God  is  not  worthy 

of  their  love  and  confidence. "Restrainest  prayer" — the  word 

for  prayer  however,  more  naturally  means  meditation,  but  medi- 
tation before  God  or  toward  God  means  reverent  and  solemn 
thoughts  of  God — such  as  lie  at  the  foundation  of  real  piety. 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.   XV.  83 

In  making  these  grave  charges  against  thee,  I  am  not  talking  at 
random,  I  speak  on  the  authority  of  thine  own  words.  Thine  own 
mouth  is  the  Avitncss ;  thy  mouth  condemns  thee  and  not  I.  The 
things  thou  hast  said  have  charged  God  foolishly.  Thou  hast  re- 
flected severely  upon  his  justice;  thou  hast  dishonored  his  name. 

In  V.  5,  the  lleb.  word  corresponding  to  "  uttcreth,"  is  of  rare 

occurrence  in  this  sense  and  quite  peculiar,  indicating,  not  that 
.lob  taught  iniquity  intentionally,  but  rather  incidentally ;  that 
liis  -words  were  suggestive  of  iniquity,  were  closely  connected — 
tied  up  with  it;  were  redolent  of  sin;  and  could  not  fail  therefore 
to  be  mischievous. 

7.  Ah  thou  the  first  man  that  Avas  born?  or  wast  thou 
made  before  the  hills  ? 

8.  Hast  thou  heard  the  secret  of  God  ?  and  dost  thou  re- 
strain wisdom  to  thyself? 

9.  What  knowest  thou,  that  we  know  not  ?  ^vhat  under- 
.''tandest  thou,  which  is  not  in  us  ? 

10.  With  us  are  both  the  grayheaded  and  the  very  aged 
men,  much  elder  than  thy  father. 

Eliphaz  had  great  faith  in  aiithoriiy — the  testimony  of  the 
oldest  men.  Hence  this  argument; — art  thou  the  tirst  man  born — 
brought  into  being  before  the  hills  ?  Wert  thou  a  listener  in  God's 
privy  council  when  the  great  principles  of  his  government  over 
races  yet  unborn  were  discussed  and  determined  ?  And  dost 
thou  restrict  all  wisdom  to  thyself,  assuming  that  other  men  have 
none  and  have  no  business  to  claim  any  ?  By  what  right  dost 
thou  claim  to  know  more  than  we?  What  knowledge  hast  thou 
that  we  have  not?     On  our  side  are  men  much  older  than  thy 

father. "On  our  side"  of  this  argument,  he  probably  meant, 

including  men  not  present ;  for  it  is  scarcely  supposable  that 
either  of  the  three  disputants  had  reached  the  great  age  of  which 

he  speaks. His  remark  suggests  however  that,  at  this   time. 

Job  had  not  reached  a  very  great  age. 

11.  Are  the  consolations  of  God  small  with  thee?  is  there 
any  secret  thing  with  thee? 

11.  Why  doth  thine  heart  carry  thee  away  ?  and  what  do 
thy  eyes  wink  at, 

13.  That  thou  turnest  thy  spirit  against  God,  and  lettest 
such  words  go  out  of  thy  mouth  ? 

"Are  the  consolations  of  God  too  small  for  thee" — (so  the 
Hebrew);  are  they  altogether  unsatisfactory?  Eliphaz  manifestly 
thinks  of  the  consolations  wdiich  himself  and  his  associates  had 
brought  to  Job,  and  speaks  of  them  (with  perhaps  some  little  self- 
conceit)  as  being  from  God  himself In  the  last  clause  of  v.  11, 

the  received  version  quite  fails  of  the  real  sense,  for  this  clause 
should  merely  expand  the  thought  of  the  former;  thus — The  con- 
solations of  God — the  word  that  was  very  gentle  tow^ard   thee: — 


84  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XV. 

the  sentiment  being  that  their  rebukes  of  Job,  administered  as 
God's  consolations,  were  very  mild ;  far  less  severe  than  he  de- 
served.— "Why  doth  thine  heart" — "  heart"  as  the  seat  of  feeling, 
emotion — sweep  thee  away,  i.  e.,  from  reason  and  all  propriety? 
And  for  what  do  thine  eyes  twinkle — indicating  a  sneer  of  con- 
tempt toward  God,  as  the  next  verse  implies.  What  could  have 
emboldened  thee  into  such  disrespect  and  irreverence  toward 
God  ?  Why  hast  thou  suffered  thine  heart  to  feel  such  irreverence, 
and  thy  mouth  to  give  it  utterance  ? 

14.  What  is  man,  that  he  should  be  clean?  and  he  which  is 
born  of  a  woman,  that  he  should  be  righteous  ? 

15.  Behold,  he  putteth  no  trust  in  his  saints;  yea,  the 
heavens  are  not  clean  in  his  sight. 

16.  How  much  more  abominable  and  filthy  is  man,  which 
drinketh  iniquity  like  water  ? 

Eliphaz  reverts  to  those  impressive  words  which  came  to  him 
in  visions  of  the  night  (4:  17-19),  and  substantially  quotes  them. 
Doubtless'  they  seemed  to  him  to  bring  the  very  rebuke  which 
Job's  irreverent  words  as  to  God  should  receive.  The  entire  pass- 
age as  it  stands  here  makes  a  strong  contrast  between  man,  born 
of  woman,  morally  unclean,  of  a  sinning  race — on  the  one  hand; 
and  on  the  other,  the  holy  and  unsinning  ones  above.  If  in  the 
latter,  God  puts  no  trust  and  accounts  them,  relatively  to  himself, 
not  pure ;  how  much  more  must  he  hold  man  to  be  abominable  and 
polluted  ? — man  who  takes  in  sin  so  readily  and  even  so  greedily  ? 

17.  I  will  shew  thee,  hear  me  ;  and  that  which  I  have  seen 
I  will  declare; 

18.  Which  wise  men  have  told  from  their  fathers,  and 
have  not  hid  it: 

19.  Unto  whom  alone  the  earth  was  given,  and  no  stranger 
passed  among  them. 

Again  Eliphaz  brings  forward  his  great  argument  from  the 
authority  of  the  fathers,  to  the  point  that  the  wicked  have  always 
been  punished;  sin  has  always  met  a  present,  swift  retribution. 
All  the  wise  and  good  of  the  earliest  times  have  brought  this  down 
to  us  from  the  fathers,  even  from  those  who  held  the  earth  first 
and  had  it  alone,  and  their  primitive  ideas,  fresh  from  the  Great 
Father  of  men,  were  as  yet  uncontaminated  by  the  teaching  of 
strangers  coming  among  them.  In  his  view  the  value  of  tradi- 
tions from  the  fathers  will  be  as  their  age,  the  most  ancient  being 
the  best;  and  moreover  as  their  pnritt/ — according  as  they  were 
free  from  corruptions  introduced  by  strangers. 

20.  The  wicked  man  travaileth  with  pain  all  his  days,  and 
the  number  of  years  is  hidden  to  the  oppressor. 

21.  A  dreadful  sound  is  in  his  ears :  in  prosperity  the 
destroyer  shall  come  upon  him. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP,  XV.  85 

22.  He  believeth  not  that  lie  shall  return  out  of  darkness, 
and  he  is  waited  for  of  the  sword. 

23.  He  wandereth  abroad  for  bread,  saying,  Where  is  itf 
he  knoweth  that  the  day  of  darkness  is  ready  at  his  hand. 

24.  Trouble  and  anguish  shall  make  him  afraid  ;  ti)ey 
shall  prevail  against  him,  as  a  king  ready  to  the  battle. 

In  V.  20,  last  clause,  our  English  version  has  it  that  the  oppressor 
knows  not  how  long  he  shall  live.  I>ut  this  has  little  force,  for 
the  same  is  true  of  the  hcst  of  men.  The  utmost  that  can  he  said 
pertinently  on  this  point  is  that  the  continued  life  of  the  oppressor 
iiecomes  specially  uncertain;  his  chances  of  long  life  are  seriously 
diminished. — A  better  construction  puts  "all  his  days"  and  "the 
number  of  years  that  are  laid  up  for  the  oppressor"  in  apposition, 
each  clause  describing  the  future  life  of  the  great  robber.  Then 
the  verse  will  affirm  of  him  that  he — he  emphatically- — is  in  tor- 
ment all  his  days,  even  all  the  years,  laid  up  for  him.  The  state- 
ment is  very  strong — that  such  a  man  is  in  perpetual  torment 
through  all  his  wicked  life.  A  dreadful  sound  rings  evermore  in 
his  ear — a  sound  inspiring  fear  and  dread.  He  hears  it  every- 
where, day  and  night;  he  starts  at  every  rustling  leaf  In  his 
most  prosperous  state,  the  destroyer  may  break  in  upon  him  with 
vengeance.  He  can  have  no  confidence — ("  believeth  not") — that 
he  shall  ever  emerge  out  of  this  state  of  darkness  and  dread ;  the 
sword  of  some  avenging  hand  is  ever  waiting  for  him.  He  is  the 
man  who  roams  abroad  for  even  bread  to  eat,  crying  Where  ?  con- 
scious that  the  day  of  utter  darkness  is  close  upon  him.  The  blow 
that  he  fears  and  dreads  so  much  will  surely  fall  ere  long  and 
overpower  him — as  a  king  would  who  was  fully  equipped  for 
battle. — This  strongly  drawn  picture  leaves  scarcely  the  least 
possible  comfort  or  peace  to  the  boldly  wicked  man. 

25.  For  he  stretcheth  out  his  hand  against  God,  and 
strengtheneth  himself  against  the  Almighty. 

26.  He  runneth  upon  him,  even  on  his  neck,  upon  the  thick 
bosses  of  his  bucklers : 

27.  Because  he  covereth  his  face  with  his  fatness,  and 
raaketh  collops  of  fat  on  his  flanks. 

28.  And  he  dwelleth  in  desolate  cities,  and  in  houses  which 
no  man  inhabiteth,  which  are  ready  to  become  heaps. 

The  reason  for  his  unmitigated  wretchedness  is  here  traced  to 
his  daring  impiety  toAvard  God. The  form  of  the  verb  trans- 
lated, "  strengtheneth  himself,"  does  not  imply  that  he  really 
became  strong  against  God — a  thing  entirely  impossible  for 
mortal  man:  but  rather  that  he  made  a  shoui  of  himself  as  strong; 
took  on  airs  and  proudly  set  himself  forth  as  one  able  to  measure 
arms  with  the  Almighty.     Such  is  the  well  known  usage  of  this 

form  of  the  Heb.  verb. In  v.  26,  we  meet  the  question — Upon 

xohose  neck,  and  upon  the  thick  bosses  of  whose  bucklers  ?    The 


86  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XV. 

received  version  misleads  most  reade^rs  to  suppose  that  the  neck 
and  the  buckler  also  are  those  of  God.  Whereas,  we  must  read — ■ 
He  (this  proudly  wicked  man)  runneth  upon  Him  (God)  with 
stiffened  neck  [high  head],  and  with  the  thick  bosses  of  his  own 
buckler — i.  e.,  clad  in  defensive  armor  Avhich  he  vainly  assumes 
will  shield  him  against  the  sAVord  of  the  Almighty.  It  is  not  God 
therefore,  but  the  sinner  who  supposes  himself  to  be  thus  armed. 

Vain  mortal ! The  description  of  his  haughty  pride  and  defiant 

hardihood  continues:  "Because  he  covered  his  face  with  his  fat- 
ness," etc. — fatness  and  pride  being  in  oriental  conception,  kin- 
dred and  associated  ideas.     See  Deut.  32;  15  and  31:  20  and  Ps. 

17:  10. In  V.  28  this  savage  freebooter — a  man  of  violence  and. 

blood — is  thought  of  as  living  amid  the  ruins  of  cities  himself  had 
laid  desolate. 

29.  He  shall  not  be  rich,  neither  shall  his  substance  con- 
tinue, neithei"  shall  he  prolong  the  perfection  thereof  upon 
the  earth. 

30.  He  shall  not  depart  out  of  darkness ;  the  flame  shall 
dry  up  his  branches,  and  by  the  breath  of  his  mouth  shall  he 
go  away. 

This  wicked  man  makes  a  failure  of  his  life,  for  the  things  he 
specially  lives  and  labors  for  elude  his  grasp.  He  shall  not  enrich 
himself  however  much  he  may  pillage  and  plunder,  nor  shall  what 
he  does  seize  upon  be  enduring.  The  last  clause  of  v.  29  has  a 
rare  word  of  very  doubtful  etymology  and  meaning.  *  Probably 
it  means  possession,  of  some  soi't.  We  may  choose  between  ex- 
tending abroad  his  possessions  in  the  earth,  and  the  bending  down 

of  his  fruit  (on  trees)  to  the  earth. He  shall  not  emerge  (v.  30) 

out  of  darkness — i.  c,  out  of  calamity.  Fire  shall  scorch  and 
wither  his  branches.  By  the  breath  of  Jehovah's  lips  shall  he  be 
swept  away — a  figure  which  appears  also  in  Isa.  11:4. 

31.  Let  not  him  that  is  deceived  trust  in  vanity ;  for  vanity 
shall  be  his  recompense. 

32.  It  shall  be  accomplished  before  his  time,  and  his  branch 
shall  not  be  green. 

33.  He  shall  shake  off  his  unripe  grape  as  the  vine,  and 
shall  cast  off  his  flower  as  the  olive. 

The  sense  is  improved  by  reading  the  passage — Let  him  not 
trust  in  evil,  he  deceives  himself  (if  he  does);  for  evil  shall  be  his 
recompense.  The  evil  he  trusts  in  will  return  upon  him  for  his 
reward.  And  it  will  be  fulfilled  before  its  day — far  sooner  than 
one  might  naturally  expect.  Comparing  him  to  the  palm-tree,  ho 
will  not  remain  green.  His  grapes  drop  off  unripe ;  his  olive-blos- 
soms fall  prematurely ;  no  fruit  ripens  in  his  garden. 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XVI.  87 

34.  For  the  congregation  of  hypocrites  -sAoM  be  desolate, 
and  fire  shall  consume  the  tabernacles  of  bribery. 

35.  They  conceive  mischief,  and  bring  forth  vanity,  and 
their  belly  prepareth  deceit. 

The  word  "  congregation  "  is  too  indefinite.  Better  JiovseJiold — 
his  family  and  group  of  servants  are  made  desohxte,  all  cut  off 
prematurely — said  perhaps  with  an  eye  to  the  case  of  Joh  himself. 
"  Hypocrite  "  (as  usual) — a  great  and  bold  sinner,  yet  not  re- 
stricted'to  those  who  falsely  pretend  to  he  what  they  are  not. 
Their  plans  of  wickedness  prove  altogether  abortive. 

All  these  points  in  his  description  of  the  destiny  of  the  wicked 
in  this  world  Eliphaz  lays  down  as  universal ;  admitting  of  no 
exception.  Obviously  he  first  infers  this  from  God's  justice, 
strengthening  this  inference  by  his  conviction  that  it  onght  to  be 
so;  and  then  backs  up  his  doctrine  by  a  very  limited  observation 
of  facts  in  human  history.  Thus  held  and  presented,  his  doctrine 
bore  with  terrible  severity  upon  Job.  Neither  he  nor  his  associ- 
ates were  disposed  to  soften  this  severity. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Joh  replies. 

1.  Then  Job  answered  and  said, 

2.  I  have  heard  many  such  things :  miserable  comforters 
are  ye  all. 

3.  Shall  vain  words  have  an  end?  or  what  emboldeneth 
thee  that  thou  answerest  ? 

Taken  in  whole,  this  speech  of  Job  (chap.  16  and  17)  is  a  tender, 
pathetic  appeal  to  his  friends  for  their  compassion  and  sympathy. 
His  first  words,  as  usual,  are  somewhat  sharp;  but,  passing  these, 
his  strain  of  remark  portrays  his  affliction  and  puts  in  strong  light 
the  deep  trial  of  his  soul  because  thoge  afflictions  come  so  mani- 
festly from  the  hand  of  God,  and  because  he  can  get  no  explana- 
tion of  the  reasons  why  the  Lord  afflicts  him  so  fearfully. 

I  have  heard  many  such  "things" — /.  e.,  from  you  all.  Your 
speeches  have  been  mostly  a  repetition  of  the  same  things  with 
scarcely  the  least  variation  or  advance  in  the  argument. "  Com- 
forters of  trouble"  [Heb.] — who  bring,  not  comfort  but  only 
deeper  trouble — are  ye  all. Do  words  of  wind  ever  come  nat- 
urally to  an  end  ?  Is  it  not  the  normal  law  of  such  words  to  blow 
on  and  on,  gusty,  breezy,  and  nothing  else  ?  Observe,  the  ques- 
tion is  not  one  of  expectation ; — May  we  not  hope  for  an  end  of 
such  words?    Nor  of  oitghtness; — ovglit  they  not  to  end  some- 


88  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAr.    XVI. 

where  ?  But,  with  a  somewhat  caustic  turn,  he  intimates  that 
words  so  empty,  so  void  of  sense,  must  naturally  blow  on  with 
never  an  end,  since  they  never  accomplish  any  worthy  purpose, 
and  there  will  always  remain  the  same  reason  for  more  as  at  the 

first. In  the  second  clause  of  v.  3,  we  should  read — not,  What 

"  emboldens,"  but  what  stirs  thee  np,  excites,  provokes,  thee  to 
answer  so  ! 

4.  I  also  could  speak  as  ye  do :  if  your  soul  were  in  my 
soul's  stead,  I  could  heap  up  words  against  you,  and  shake 
mine  head  at  you. 

Job  sugc^ests  that  it  would  be  very  easy  for  him  too  to  talk  sagely, 
philosophically,  and  also  very  long,  if  only  their  respective  cases 
were  reversed — their  soul  in  the  condition  of  his,  and  his  in 
theirs.  Then  t  could  string  together  words  against  you  in  per- 
petual accumulation,  and  do  it  too  with  very  little  feeling  other 
than  contempt,  or  at  least  disrespect,  shaking  the  head  in  assumed 
dignity  and  superiority.  Probably  Job  thought  this  remark 
might  help  them  to  see  themselves  as  others  saw  them,  and  more 

according  to  the  reality. Note  that  the  word  "soul"  as  here 

used  carries  in  it  more  of  sensibility,  suffering,  than  the  words 
I  and  you  would  have  done.  For  your  soul  to  be  in  my  soul's 
stead  would  give  you  more  sorrows,  woes  and  heart-agonies  than 
ye  are  wont  to  think  of. 

5.  But  I  would  strengthen  you  with  my  mouth,  and  the 
moving  of  my  lips  should  assuage  your  grief. 

In  the  case  supposed,  I  would  do  far  otherwise  than  ye  are  doing. 
I  would  speak  so  as  to  give  you  real  succor,  moral  strength. 
The  moving  of  my  lips  should  relieve,  and  help  bring  to  an  end. 

To  the  word  for  "moving"  of  the  lips  some  critics  give  the 

sense,  comfort;  but  the  better  established  sense  is  that  of 
moving.  Ilis  speech  should  aim  to  give  them  the  relief  they 
would  need,  which  would  indeed  imply  comfort. 

6.  Though  I  speak,  my  grief  is  not  assuaged :  and  thovgJi 
I  forbear,  what  am  I  eased  ? 

But  now  I  am  not  in  your  case  but  in  my  own.  When  I  speak, 
therefore,  it  brings  me  no  relief;  my  sorrows  hold  me  all  the 
same;  and  if  I  cease  to  speak,  my  sorrows  leave  me  not — liter- 
ally: What  goes  from  me?  the  implied  answer  being — Nothing 
at  all;   I  am  no  less  full  of  anguish  than  before. 

7.  But  now  he  hath  made  me  weary:  thou  hast  made 
desolate  all  my  company. 

8.  And  thou  hast  filled  me  with  wrinkles,  ivMch  is  a 
witness  against  me;  and  my  leanness  rising  up  in  me  beareth 
witness  to  my  face. 

9.  He    teareth    me   in  his   wrath,   who    hateth    me :    he 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CIIAr.    XVI.  89 

guashelh  upon  me  with  his  teeth;  mine  enemy  sliarpcneth 
his  eyes  upon  me. 

Here  Job  passes  on  to  describe  the  way  he  has  been  treated. 
Some  of  his  expressions  apply  more  naturally  to  God  as  inflicting 
these  calamities  ;  others  seem  to  refer  to  these  professed  friends, 
considered,  perhaps,  as  acting   under  God's  permissive   agency. 

"He  hath  made  me  weary"  would  bear  the   stronger  sense: 

He  hath  worn  out  my  strength ;   exhausted  my  powers  of  further 

endurance. "Made  desolate  all  my  company  ' — the  same  word 

for  "company"  as  in  15:  -34,  where  the  sense  is  household.  The 
word  must  include  the  whole  group  of  his  household,  viz.,  chil- 
dren, servants — all   of   whom   were    swept    off  together  by    one 

awful  wave  of  desolation  (chap.  1). In  the  first  clause  of  v.  8, 

our  English  version  fails  to  give  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew.  It 
should  be  thus  : — "  He  hath  seized  me  (as  with  the  grip  of  a  giant 
or  as  the  lion  does  his  prey);  this  is  a  witness  that  my  leanness 
[emaciation]  riseth  up  against  me  and  bears  witness  to  my  face. 
So  onward :  "His  anger  tears  and  still  pursues  me"  (as  an 
adversary). 

10.  They  have  gaped  upon  me  Avith  their  mouth ;  they 
have  smitten  me  upon  the  cheek  reproachfully;  they  have 
gathered  themselves  together  against  me. 

11.  God  hath  delivered  me  to  the  ungodly,  and  turned  me 
over  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked. 

These  Hebrew  methods  of  expressing  contempt  occur  in  later 
writings: — "  Gaping  upon  one  with  the  mouth  " — in  Ps.  22  :  1.3  ; 
smiting  upon  the  cheek  in  Lam.  3 :  30.  But  "  gathering  together 
against  me  "  suggests  in  the  original  more  than  simple  combina- 
tion, viz.,  the  further  idea  of  fitting  out  a  full  array  like  an 
embattled  host,  charging  in  successive  squadrons,  Avith  allusion 
probably  to  the  fact  that  these  three  friends  charged  upon  him 
one    after    another,    availing    themselves    of    their  number   and 

method  of  assault,  to  overwhelm  him  utterly. God's  agency 

in  all  this,  though  only  permissive,  was  yet  one  of  its  most 
bitter  elements. 

12.  I  was  at  ease,  but  he  hath  broken  me  asunder:  he 
hath  also  taken  me  by  my  neck,  and  shaken  me  to  pieces, 
and  set  me  up  for  his  mark. 

13.  His  archers  compass  me  round  about;  he  cleaveth  my 
reins  asunder,  and  doth  not  spare;  he  poureth  out  my  gall 
upon  the  ground. 

14.  He  breaketh  me  with  breach  upon  breach,  he  runneth 
upon  me  like  a  giant. 

Ah  me !  I  once  had  a  peaceful,  happy  life ;  hut  all  that  is  past 
and  gone.     He  [God]  hath  shattered  me  utterly ;  he  hath  taken 
me  up  by  the  neck — as  a  ravenous  beast  does  his  powerless  prey, 
5 


90  THE    BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XVI. 

and  hath  dashed  me  to  pieces.     He  hath  made  me  a  target  for 

his  arrows. The  first  word  of  v.  13  has  the  authority  of  the 

ancient  versions  for  the  sense  "  archers  "  ;  but  its  etymology  and 
current  usage  favor  the  meaning,  his  many  or  strong  ones  beset 
me  round.  They  are  represented  not  so  much  as  shooting 
[arrows]  as  encompassing  him  all  round  about  by  their  great 
number. The  rest  of  the  passage  can  scarcely  be  misappre- 
hended. 

15.  I  have  sewed  sackcloth  upon  my  skin,  and  dtfiled  my 
horn  in  the  dust. 

16.  My  face  is  foul  with  weeping,  and  on  my  eyelids  is  the 
shadow  of  death; 

17.  Not  for  any  injustice  in  my  hands:  also  my  prayer  is 
pure. 

Bowing  before  this  terrible  assault,  Job  had  taken  the  attitude 
of  a  mourner.  So  we  see  in  the  history:  "He  rent  his  mantle; 
shaved  his  head;  fell  to  the  ground  and  worshiped  "  (1 :  20) ; — "  and 

sat  down  in  the  ashes  "    (2  :  8). To  "  thrust  one's  horn  into 

the  dust"    contemplates  the  horn  as  the  symbol   of   power  and 

dignity. All  this  dishonor  and  bitter  sorrow  came  upon  him, 

not  for  any  violence  of  his  hands  against  his  fellow-men,  nor 
for  any  impurity  [selfishness  or  hypocrisy]  in  his  prayer  before 
God.  He  was  not  conscious  of  any  supposable  cause  in  his 
treatment  of  men,  or  his  worship  of  God,  which  should  have 
occasioned  these  inflictions,  or  which  might  account  for  them. 

18.  O  earth,  cover  not  thou  my  blood,  and  let  my  cry 
have  no  place. 

19.  Also  now,  behold,  my  witness  is  in  heaven,  and  my 
record  is  on  high. 

As  a  murdered  man  leaves  his  blood  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  a 
witness  to  his  own  innocence  and  to  the  guilt  of  his  murderer,  so 
Job  implores  the  earth  not  to  hide  his  blood,  but  let  it  remain 
open  to  every  eye  as  his  witness. — "Let  my  cry  have  no  place," 
i.  e.,  where  it  may  hide  itself  or  be  absorbed  and  lost  to  human 
ears.  Let  it  echo  and  re-echo  forever,  finding  no  place  where  it 
can  die  away  and  become  inaudible. — And  now  it  flashes  upon 
Job's  mind  that  in  one  respect  at  least,  this  prayer  may  and  Avill 
be  answered,  for  God  will  remember  all  and  will  be  his  witness. 
Ah,  verily;  "my  witness  is  in  heaven;"  my  attestor — he  who  will 
bear  witness  for  me — is  on  high. 

20.  My  friends  scorn  me :  but  mine  eye  poiu-etli  out  tears 
unto  God. 

21.  Oh  that  one  might  plead  for  a  man  with  God,  as  a 
man  pleadeth  for  his  neighbor ! 

22.  AVhen  a  few  years  are  come,  then  I  shall  go  the  way 
wJience  I  shall  not  return. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XVII.  91 

My  mockers  are  these  professed  friends.  The  bitterest  re- 
proaches and  insults  I  am  made  to  feel  come  from  those  who 
should  comfort  and  befriend  me.  Unto  God  and  before  him  only, 
mine  eye  pours  out  its  tears! — In  v.  21,  there  is  nothing  corre- 
sponding to  "  Oh  that"  ! — nothing  that  expresses  in  this  way  his 
impassioned  desire.  The  verse  should  rather  be  connected  with 
what  precedes,  thus  :  Mj  eye  poureth  forth  tears  unto  God,  that  he 
would  implead  for  man  with  God — argue  a  case  for  the  interests 
of  justice  even  as  a  son  of  man  may  have  a  hearing  and  trial  with 
his  fellow.  Over  and  over  Job  has  pathetically  implored  this 
favor — a  hearing  before  God  ;  such  as  the  law  provides  for  between 
man  and  man.  Now  this  longing  is  intensified  by  a  sense  of 
being  near  his  end,  and  a  feeling  therefore  that  it  must  be  soon 
or  never.  For  at  the  utmost  a  few  years  only  will  pass  and  I 
shall  go  that  way  from  which  I  shall  not  return. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Job  concludes  his  speech. 

This  chapter  runs  in  the  same  current  of  thought  as  the  preced- 
ing, portraying  Job,  the  great  sufferer;  his  life-powers  almost 
spent;  himself  mocked  and  not  commiserated  by  his  friends; 
longing  for  a  candid,  equitable  hearing  of  his  case  ;  his  sorest 
abuse  coming  from  those  who  should  have  befriended  him — a 
case  of  abuse  that  must  move  the  indignation  of  all  the  good  and 
react  favorably  for  real  righteousness.  His  claim  upon  the  pity 
of  all  compassionate  souls  is  the  greater  because  he  is  so  near  the 
grave  and  has  no  hope  elsewhere  than  in  that  under-world. 

1.  My  breath  is  corrupt,  my  days  are  extinct,  the  graves 
are  ready  for  me. 

My  breath  is — not  "foul" — but  used  iqy,  gone.  The  word  for 
"breath"*  being  the  usual  one  for  spirit,  some  explain  it — My 
vital  forces  are  spent — which  without  doubt  is  essentially  the 
meaning. — "My  days  are  extinct" — like  the  extinguishing  of  a 
lamp;  so  the  light  of  my  life  is  virtually  extinguished.  "The 
grave  is /or  me'  — the  only  portion  that  now  remains. 

2.  Ave  there  not  mockers  with  me?  and  doth  not  mine  eye 
continue  in  their  j)ro vocation? 

The  original  words  indicate,  not  a  question,  but  the  strongest 
asseveration.  Jf  it  be  not  so,  then  what  is  it?  The  sense — most 
truly  mockers  are  upon  me,  beset  me.      On  their  insults,  mine 


92  THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XVII. 

eye  must  abide — literally,  spend  all  the  niglit.     So  Job  speaks  of 
the  insulting,  cruel  remarks  of  his  friends. 

3.  Lay  down  now,  put  me  in  a  surety  with  tliee ;  who  is 
he  that  will  strike  hands  with  me  ? 

4.  For  thou  hast  hid  their  heart  from  understanding : 
therefore  shalt  thou  not  exalt  them. 

"Lay  down"  is  the  language  used  in  betting  phrase  by  those 
who  ask  another  to  give  a  j)! edge. — The  second  clause:  "Put  me 
in  a  surety  with  thee;"  "who  will  put  his  hand  into  mine?"  indi- 
cates -what  the  Hebrew  tongue  expresses  by  "striking  hands"  for 
the  pledge  of  a  solemn  covenant.  Here  the  thing  to  be  guaranteed 
was,  not  the  payment  of  a  debt — which  would  be  quite  foreign 
from  the  subject— but  a  hearing  before  some  fair  tribunal.  Would 
any  one  appear,  and  give  this  guaranty  ?  His  soul  longed  for 
some  opportunity  for  such  a  hearing  as  might  vindicate  him  from 
the  foul  and  cruel  aspersions  cast  on  him  by  his  professed  friends. — 
In  V.  4,  the  thought  is — Thou,  Lord,  hast  hidden  [covered]  the 
heart  of  my  friends  from  'wisdom.  Thou  hast  holden  their 
eyes  that  they  should  not  see  wisely;  therefore  thou  wilt  not 
exalt  them  in  honor,  but  (as  is  implied)  wilt  bring  them  to  dis- 
honor. Thou  wilt  not  indorse  but  wilt  rebuke  their  cruel  cen- 
sures of  me. 

5.  He  that  speaketh  flattery  to  Ids  friends,  even  the  eyes 
of  his  children  shall  fail. 

The  received  version  is  neither  well  sustained  by  Hebrew  usage, 
nor  in  harmony  with  the  course  of  thought.  True,  the  first  verb 
sometimes  means,  to  speak,  but  is  properly,  to  put  somelJdng  before 
one.  Here  ^'friend"  is  the  object  7>»Mi  before,  in  the  sense  of 
being  surrendered  into  the  power  of  another — put  into  their  hand, 
i.  e.,  as  a  spoil.  He  who  betrays  his  friends  for  a  spoil  into  the 
handof  I'obbers ;  the  eyes  of  his  children  shall  fail — pining  away 
in  sorrow.  God  will  scourge  them  with  the  desolation  of  their 
dearest.  Job  suggests  that  his  friends  have  committed,  not  this 
crime  precisely,  but  one  of  analogous  character,  equally  heartless 
and  cruel.     Therefore  God  will  curse  their  children  after  them. 

6.  He  hath  made  me  also  a  byword  of  the  people :  and 
aforetime  I  was  as  a  tabret. 

7.  Mine  eye  also  is  dim  by  reason  of  sorrow,  and  all  my 
members  are  as  a  shadow. 

"  He"  in  v.  6  seems  to  refer  most  naturally  to  God,  but  in  this 
connection  only  as  providentially  permitting  or  suifering  his  friends 
to  do  this.  They  had  made  him  a  byword  of  the  peoples — the 
tribes,  round  about;— a  byword  moreover  in  the  sense  of  a  noto- 
rious character  who  strangely  illustrated  how  a  man,  appearing 
spotless  for  a  season,  had  been  suddenly  shown  up  to  be  one  of 
the  worst  of  men.  His  friends  had  put  this  construction  upon 
his  case,  and  had  thereby  put  all  his  neighbors  upon  defaming 


THE  BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.   XVII.  93 

his  character. In  the  second  clause  of  v.  6,  the  English  version 

must  be  changed  entirely.  All  modern  critics  concur  in  making 
it  essentially  parallel  with  the  first  clause — "  I  am  become  a  man 
to  be  spit  on  in  the  very  face."     They  have  sunk  me  so  low  in 

general  esteem  that  every  one  feels  at  liberty  to  spit  upon  me. 

My  eye  has  grown  dim  Avith  grief.  Emaciation  has  made  all  the 
members  of  my  body  as  a  shadow — the  substance  utterly  gone. 

8.  Upright  men  shall  be  astonished  at  this,  and  the  iuiio- 
cent  shall  stir  up  himself  against  the  hypocrite. 

9.  The  righteous  also  shall  hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that 
hath  clean  hands  shall  be  stronger  and  stronger.    " 

Upright  men  will  be  astonished  at  this — but  we  must  ask — at 
wliat  f  What  precisely  does  the  Avriter  mean  by  "  this"  ?  Is  it 
the  strange  facts  of  Job's  case ;  or  is  it  the  yet  more  strange  inter- 

2)reiatioii  put  upon  those  facts   by  his  three  friends? Either 

construction  is  possible,  not  to  say,  pertinent.  The  former  thus : 
The  facts  are  indeed  remarkable.  Men  unsympathizing,  suspi- 
cious, or  of  shallow  thought,  may  construe  them  as  ye  have  done;' 
but  the  truly  upright,  though  amazed  at  such  facts,  will  not  be 
staggered  as  to  their  foith  in  God,  but  will  be  stirred  up  the  more 
against  vile  men.     The  righteous  will  hold  on  his  righteous  way 

and  grow  only  the  stronger  therein. Then  v.  10  calls  upon  his 

friends  for  a  hearing  of  the  case,  not  one  of  them  having  shown 

himself  wise  upon  it. On  the  second  construction  above  named, 

thus  :  Strange  as  the  facts  in  my  case  may  be — an  upright  man 
smitten  so  fearfully  of  God — yet  jonr  interpretation  of  them  is 
stranger  still.  Ye  may  think  your  view  is  the  right  one  ;  but  all 
the  truly  good  and  wise  will  stand  amazed  at  your  conclusions, 
and  will  be  stirred  up  to  stand  by  the  truth,  hold  fast  to  their  up- 
right life,  and  gi'ow  only  the  stronger  in  it. Of  these  two  pos- 
sible constructions,  the  former  seems  to  me  preferable  because  of 
its  bettor  connection  with  the  context  before  and  after.  It  indi- 
cates that  Job  had  very  strong  faith  in  his  doctrine  as  opposed  to 
that  of  his  friends,  and  fully  believed  that  in  the  final  result  all 
the  really  good  would  be  with  him  and  not  with  them,  both  in 
their  sympathies  and  in  their  interpretation  of  such  remarkable 
facts  in  God's  providence.  This  need  not  imply  that  he  felt  able 
to  explain  the  reasons  of  God's  ways  toward  him  ;  but  does  im- 
ply that  he  held  on  to  his  foith  in  the  goodness  and  justice  of  God 
and  would  still  believe  that  God  would  explain  and  vindicate  his 
Avays  in  due  time. 

10.  But  as  for  you  all,  do  ye  return,  and  come  now:  for 
I  can  not  find  one  wise  man  among  you. 

This  calls  for  a  rehearing  of  his  case  on  the  ground  that  not  a 
man  of  them  had  shown  himself  really  wise.  This  call  links 
itself  with  what  he  had  recently  said  of  the  view  that  all  the 
truly  good  must  take  of  his  case. 


94  THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XVII. 

11.  My  days  are  past,  my  j)urpose.s  are  broken  off,  even 
the  thoughts  of  my  heart. 

12.  They  change  the  night  into  day  :  the  light  is  short 
because  of  darkness. 

Let  this  be  hastened  on,  for  my  life-time  is  short.  My  best 
days  have  gone ;  my  plans  of  life  are   frustrated — those  dearest 

treasures  of  my  heart. V.   12   is   obscure.     The   most  literal 

translation  would  be — They  put  night  to  day ;  light  is  near  from 
before  darkness.  This  might  possibly  mean  that  night  comes 
closely  up  to  the  day  with  no  twilight  intervening,  every  thing 
working  toward  the  greatest  duration  of  the  darkness.  In  like 
manner  every  thing  in  his  case  hurries  toward  the  deep  darkness 
of  the  under-world.  Or  the  sense  may  be — They  put  night  into 
day,  making  the  night  not  restful  as  night  should  be,  but  toil- 
some, unrestful.  The  ultimate  sense  is  probably  this : — What 
little  light  [joy  of  life]  I  have  is  soon  to  be  followed  Avith  dark- 
ness in  the  under-world. The  translation — "  They  change  the 

night  into  day"  seems  to  be  entirely  foreign  from  the  drift  of 
thought. 

13.  If  I  wait,  the  grave  is  my  house:  I  have  made  my 
bed  in  the  darkness. 

14.  I  have  said  to  corruption,  Thou  art  my  father  :  to  the 
worm,  Thou  art  my  mother,  and  my  sister. 

15.  And  where  is  now  my  hope?  as  for  my  hope,  who 
shall  see  it  ? 

16.  They  shall  go  down  to  the  bars  of  the  pit,  when  our 
rest  together  is  in  the  dust. 

The  first  word  of  v.  13  is  translated  by  the  best  critics,  not 
"  if,"  but  "  lo,"  calling  attention  to  the  fact  stated.  Lo,  I  wait 
for  Shcol,  my  house  [to  become  such  in  anticipation] ;  I  have  al- 
ready spread  my  bed  there  in  the  darkness  of  that  world ;  1  have 
made  corruption  and  worms  my  father,  mother,  sisters ;  I  have 
addressed  them — thought  of  them — as  such.  I  am  so  soon  to  be 
permanently  at  home  with  them  in  the  grave.  The  literal  grave 
for  the  decaying  body  is  the  stepping-stone — a  sort  of  foregoing 
illustration  of  the  lower  under-world — the   home  of  the  departed 

spirit. Pathetically  Job  asks   therefore:  Where   is   my  hope? 

Who  shall  ever  see  any  hope  for  me  ?     It  may  be  noted  here 

that  this  noun,  "  hope,"  repeated  (v.  15),  affiliates  with  the  first 
verb  of  v.   13,  translated  "wait"  or  "  await"  i.  e.,  look  forward 

to  as  near  and  certain.     These  words  are  from  a  common  root. 

V.  16  answers  the  questions  put  in  v.  15.  "  They" — these  liojus 
of  mine — go  down  to  the  bars  of  Sheol — that  under-world  being 
often  represented  as  barred.  They  will  bo  there  so  soon  as  there 
is  rest  [for  me]  in  the  dust.  When  the  body  shall  find  its  resting- 
place  in  its  own  home,  the  grave,  then  all  the  hopes  that  pertain 
to  my  spirit  will  be  found  in  Sheol,  the  under-world,  the  spirit-land. 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. CHAP.   XVIII.  95 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Second  speech  of  Bildad. 

This  spcccli  of  Bildad,  after  opening  as  usual  with  some  sharp 
retort  (v.  1-4)  falls  into  the  old  line  of  argument,  adding  nothing 
new,  but  simply  reiterating  the  old,  viz.,  that  God's  judgments 
always  follow  the  Avicked  till  they  are  chased  out  of  the  world, 
and  then  curse  their  children  after  them.  The  gist  of  his  argu- 
ment requires  him  to  prove  the  universality  and  certainty  of  this 
assumed  law  of  God's  administration  in  this  world.  If  he  can 
prove  not  merely  that  it  is  so  sometimes,  but  always,  and  never 
otherwise;  that  bad  men  always  suffer  for  their  sins  here,  and 
always  according  to  the  measure  and  guilt  of  their  sin ;  he  will 
have  made  out  his  case.  But  Bildad  seems  quite  unaware  of  the 
necessity  for  close  and  thorough  discrimination  on  these  points,  and 
therefore  satisfies  himself  with  general  statements  and  with  the 
peristent  assumption  that  there  can  be  no  exception  to  the  general 
law  he  propounds. 

1.  Then  answered  Bildad  tlie  Shiiliite,  and  said, 

2.  How  long  toill  it  he  ere  ye  make  an  end  of  words?  mark, 
and  afterwards  we  will  speak. 

The  best  critics  disagree  on  the  precise  sense  of  the  Hebrew 
word  translated  "  cud''  *  [of words].  Gesenius  says  end;  Fuerst, 
primarily  noose;  but  symbolically,  a  perveision,  the  ultimate 
meaning  being  this:  How  long  will  ye  pervert,  distort,  words? 
He  finds  support  in  the  next  clause;  understand ;  try  to  get  the 
true  sense ;  then  afterward,  let  us  speak.  Conant  and  many 
modern  critics,  guided  by  an  Arabic  analogy,  give  the  word  the  sense 
— a  hunt,  a  search,  as  of  the  huntsman  for  his  prey.  How  long 
will  ye  make  a  hunt  for  mere  words,  to  keep  up  the  show  of  ar- 
gument and  reply  ?  This  view  finds  some  support  in  the  form  of 
the  question  which  does  not  ask  When'?  but  How  long?  It 
should  be  icheyi  if  the  sense  were — to  make  an  end;  but  Hoto  long  ? 
if  the  thought  be  of  hunting  for  words.     The  keener  sarcasm  lies 

in  the   latter   interpretation. The  plural,  "ye"    contemplates 

Job  and  his  party — those  who  agree  with  him. 

3.  "Wherefore  are  we  counted  as  beasts,  and  reputed  vile 
in  your  sight  ? 

Bildad  complains  that  Job  withholds  from  his  opponents  due 
credit  for  sense  and  sagacity.  "  Why  are  we  accounted  as  the 
brute  [Heb.]  and  reputed  vile  in  your  eyes?"  But  the  Ileb. 
word  here  rendered  "vile"  does  not  occur  elsewhere.  Hence  its 
precise  meaning  is  somewhat  doubtful.  The  choice  lies  between 
impure  in  the  moral  sense,  and  duU-ivitted,  intellectually. 


96  THE  BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.   XVIII. 

4.  He  tearetli  himself  in  his  anger :  shall  the  earth  be  for- 
saken for  thee?  and  shall  the  rock  be  removed  out  of  his 
place  ? 

The  first  clause  stands  as  an  exclamation :  "  One  who  tears 
himself  in  his  rage!  " — in  which  Bildad  represents  Job  as  badly 
excited,  swept  away  and  quite  unmanned  by  his  emotions — which 
he  allows  himself  to  characterize  as  "  rage.  '  So  utterly  do  these 
disputants  fail  to  sympathize  with  their  afilicted  friend  under  his 

unprecedented  calamities! What  and  how  much  Bildad  would 

imply  in  the  question — "  For  thee  shall  the  earth  be  forsaken  and 
the  rock  be  removed  from  his  place?" — is  not  altogether  clear. 
Was  it  that  Job's  self  conceit  made  it  intolerable  for  any  one  to  live 
in  the  same  world  with  him ;  or  that  his  towering  passion  was  unen- 
durable; or  that  his  doctrine  as  to  God's  government  would  deso- 
late the  earth  and  break  down  all  society  and  order  ? The  second 

question  looks  toward  uptearing  the  great  foundation  principles  of 
all  government  and  righteousness  ;  for  to  this  it  should  apply,  and 
not  to  a  literal  tearing  up  of  granite  rocks. 

5.  Yea,  the  light  of  the  wicked  shall  be  juit  out,  and  the 
spark  of  his  fire  shall  not  shine. 

6.  The  light  shall  be  dark  in  his  tabernacle,  and  his  candle 
shall  be  put  out  with  him. 

7.  The  steps  of  his  strength  shall  be  straitened,  and  his 
own  counsel  shall  cast  him  down. 

From  this  point  onward  through  the  chapter,  Bildad  portrays 
what  he  considers  to  be  the  universal  lot  of  wicked  men.  The 
description  involves  but  very  few  points  that  require  explanation. 

In  v.  6,  "His   candle  above   him,"  rather  than   "with  him," 

"  shall  be  extinguished  " — this  candle  being  suspended  in  his  tent. 
His  strong  steps — strong  but  for  his  sin — shall  be  straitened — 
cramped,  circumscribed.  His  own  wisdom  shall  prove  his  down- 
fall, God  turning  it  into  foolishness. 

8.  For  he  is  cast  into  a  net  by  his  own  feet,  and  he 
walketh  upon  a  snare. 

9.  The  gin  shall  take  him  by  the  heel,  and  the  robber  shall 
prevail  against  him. 

10.  The  snare  is  laid  for  him  in  the  ground,  and  a  trap 
for  him  in  the  way. 

11.  Terrors  shall  make  him  afraid  on  every  side,  and  shall 
drive  him  to  his  feet. 

In  V.  9  we   should  read,  not  "the   robber"  but  the  snare  will 

take  strong  hold  of  him. In  the  last  clause  of  v.  11,  terrors 

shall  not  "drive  him  to  his  feet",  but  chase  him  close  vpon  his 
heels.     They  follow  hard  after  him  continually, 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XVIII.  97 

12.  His  strength  shall  be  hunger-bitten,  and  destruction 
shall  be  ready  at  his  side. 

13.  It  shall  devour  the  strength  of  his  skin  :  even  the  first- 
born of  death  shall  devour  his  strength. 

14.  His  confidence  shall  be  rooted  out  of  his  tabernacle, 
and  it  shall  bring  him  to  the  king  of  terrors. 

15.  It  shall  dwell  in  his  tabernacle,  because  it  is  none  of 
his:  brimstone  shall  be  scattered  upon  his  habitation. 

In  V.  13,  the  word  twice  translated  "  strength  "  seems  rather  to 
mean  the  parts  of  Ids  body.  In  the  first  case  the  portions  of  his 
skin;  in  the  second,  his  Ihnbs.  Destruction  devours  the  affected 
portions  of  his  skin;  "the  first-born  of  death"  [its  mightiest  en- 
ergies] devours  the   limbs  of  his  body — all  said  with  an  eye  to 

Job's  disease  and  its  effects  upon  his  person. In  v.  14,  not  "  his 

confidence  shall  be  torn  "  but  he  shall  be  torn  out  of  his  tent, 
his  security — i.  e.,  which  was  his  security — his  place  of  safety 
and  trust.  Having  been  thus  torn  out  of  his  stronghold,  he  is 
led  away  to  the  king  of  terrors.  Then,  himself  having  been  torn 
from  his  tent,  it  shall  be  occupied  by  others  than  either  himself  or 
his  children.  Literally,  "  There  shall  dwell  in  his  tent  those  not 
of  him" — not  descended  from  his  loins.  "Brimstone  shall  be 
showered  upon  his  habitation",  accoi-ding  to  the  doom  of  Sodom 
and  her  neighbor  cities,  to  which  there  seems  to  be  distinct 
allusion. 

16.  His  roots  shall  be  dried  up  beneath,  and  above  shall 
his  branch  be  cut  off. 

17.  His  remembrance  shall  perish  from  the  earth,  and  he 
shall  have  no  name  in  the  street. 

18.  He  shall  be  driven  from  liglit  into  darkness,  and 
chased  out  of  the  world. 

19.  He  shall  neither  have  son  nor  nephew  among  his  peo- 
ple, nor  any  remaining  in  his  dwellings. 

20.  They  that  come  after  Idm  shall  be  astonished  at  his 
day,  as  they  that  went  before  were  aftrighted. 

21.  Surely  such  are  the  dwellings  of  the  wicked,  and  this 
is  the  place  of  him  that  kuoweth  not  God. 

Thus  in  the  strongest  form  of  statement  Bildad  avers  that  every 
sinner — at  least  every  notorious  sinner — is  exterminated  from  the 
face  of  the  earth,  there  being  left  to  him  neither  name  nor  pos- 
terity. Equally,  the  men  who  survive  him  and  those  who  lived 
before  and  with  him  are  amazed  at  such  displays  of  God's 
righteous  judgments  upon  the  wacked.  He  closes  with  the 
strongest  asseveration — Such  only  (not  "surely",  v.  21)  are  the 
habitations  of  the  wicked;  only  such  as  this  is  their  doom;  all 
go  in  this  way  to  their  speedy  and  final  reward.  To  this  place 
of  ruin  must  all  come  who  know  not  God. 


98  THE   BOOK    OF    JOE. — CHAP.  XIX. 

CHAPTER    X  IX. 

Joh  replies. 

This  speech  of  Job  reaches  the  climax  of  interest  inasmuch  as 
in  it  he  himself  reaches  the  very  culmination  of  his  trial,  of  his 
distressing — almost  distracting — perplexity,  and  ultimately,  of  his 
triumph  through  the  power  of  simple  faith  in  his  Redeemer. 

1.  Then  Job  answered  and  said, 

2.  How  long  will  ye  vex  my  soul,  and  break  me  in  pieces 
witli  words  ? 

3.  These  ten  times  have  ye  reproached  me;  ye  are  not 
ashamed  that  ye  make  yourselves  strange  to  me. 

"How  long  will  ye  vex" — he  docs  not  say  me — but  "  ?»y  soul", 
for  your  cutting,  merciless  reproaches  go  down  to  the  very  depths 
of  my  being.  Your  words  break  me  to  pieces;  lacerate  my 
sensibilities;  tear  my  heart-strings  asunder.  How  long  will 
ye  persist  in  these  cruel  assaults  upon  me?  How  long 
must    I    endure    them   from    men    whom   I    have    been    happy 

to  regard  as  my  dearest  and  most  honored  friends  ? "  These 

ten  times " — not  intended  as  a  precise  enumeration  but  a 
general  expression  for  veri/  many — too  many  to  comport  with  real 
friendship;  too  many  to  be  accounted  for  on  any  worthy  law  of 
fraternal  obligation. "Reproached  me" — by  perpetually  im- 
plying that  my  life  has  been  altogether  false  and  foul,  and  my 

pietv  only  hypocrisy. The  last   clause   of  v.  3  is  expounded 

variously' by  good  critics.  Its  principal  Ileb.  word*  rendered 
"make  yourselves  strange,"  occurs  only  here.  Manifestly  our 
English  translators  mistook  its  derivation,  and  consequently,  its 
meaning.  Gesenius  and  Conant  favor  this — "  Without  shame  ye 
stun  me",  i.  e.,  confound  me;  thrust  your  reproachful  accusations 
upon  me  so  violently,  fiercely,  persistently,  that  I  can  scarcely 
take  my  breath.  I  am  overwhelmed  and  my  selfpossession 
broken  down.  In  later  editions  Gesenius,  guided  by  its  Arabic 
analogies,  suggests  this:  To  injure;  to  litigate  pertinaciously. 
Fuerst,  following  the  Targum,  gives  it — To  misjudge.  Shameless, 
ye  misconstrue  my  case.  Professing  to  sit  in  sober  judgment  as 
if  searching  for  truth,  ye  are  not  ashamed  to  pervert  the  evidence 
and  so  wrong  me  fatally  by  misjudgment.  This  last  view  of  the 
meaning  seems  to  me  best  sustained. 

4.  And  be  it  indeed  that  I  have  erred,  mine  error  remain- 
eth  with  myself. 

5.  If  indeed  ye  will  magnify  yourselves  against  me,  and 
plead  against  me  my  reproach  : 

If  it  be  so  (perhaps  I  can  not  dispute  it)  that  I  have  erred — 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.-  XIX.  99 

made  inadvertent  mistakes — yet  consider;  tlic  bitter  consequences 
fallen  myself  alone.  1  have  them  all  to  bear.  They  lodge  [Hcb.], 
tarry  all  the  night,  Avith  me.  AVhy  then  should  ye  reproach  and 
vilify  me  as  if  I  had  been  l)ringing  evil  upon  society  ;  blighting 

the  "happiness  of  others? In  v.  5   the  mutual    relation  of  the 

two  clauses  is  not  well  given  in  the  English  version.  Better  thus  : 
If  indeed  ye  would  exalt  yourselves  over  me — take  on  the  airs 
of  a  higher  piety  and  a  purer  morality,  then  prove  against  me  your 
reproacliful  charges.— — The  thought-relations  of  the  successive 
clau-ses  (vs.  5,  6)  as  put  in  the  received  version  are  not  sustained 
by  the  original  and  arc  entirely  inept  and  void  of  force,  as  the 
reader  will  see  if  he  will  suppose  Job  to  counsel  his  friends  on 
this  wise  ; — If  ye  would  really  boast  and  gloi-y  over  me  and  would 
prove  against  me  all  ye  charge  upon  me  to  my  reproach,  ye  would 
do  well  to  consider  that  God  has  overthroirn  me — that  God  is  in- 
deed wholly  against  me. Yes  indeed,  (they  would  reply),  that 

is  what  we  have  all  along  maintained  I  the  very  thing  we  have 
been  laboring  to  impress  upon  you.  God  is  utterly  against  you. 
Every  pain  he  inflicts  is  a  fresh  proof  of  it!  This  is  his  way  to 
testify  that  you  are  not  by  any  means  his  friend  and  servant. — ■ — ■ 
Now  I  submit  that  if  Job  were  in  his  right  mind,  with  any  of 
that  sense  we  are  wont  to  call  "  common,"  he  could  not  have  used 

such  logic.     It  was  logic  for  their  side,  not  Ms. On  the  other 

hand,  for  Job  to  say  (v.  5)  "  Then  j^^'ove  your  points  against  me  " 
— is  thoroughly  pertinent  to  his  argument. 

6.  Kbow  now  that  God  hath  overthrown  nie,  and  hath 
compassed  me  with  his  net. 

7.  Behold,  I  cry  out  of  wrong,  but  I  am  not  heard :  I  cry 
aloud,  but  there  is  no  judgment. 

"Hath  overthrown  me" — our  English  has  it;  but  the  Hebrew 
word  demands  a  sense  quite  unlike  and  beyond  this,  viz.,  hath 
W7-ested  my  cause.  The  word  is  severe  as  used  of  God  ;  but  it  must 
be  our  first  concern,  not  to  justify  Job  for  using  it,  but  to  arrive 
with  certainty  at  his  real  moaning,  and  then  to  suggest  whatever 
the  circumstances  may  furnish  as  the  occasion  for  this  strong 
word.— — -As  to  the  sense  of  this  Hebrew  word*  it  is,  of  all  words 
in  the  language  the  one  most  naturally  used  for  distorting,  per- 
verting, justice ;  the  veryAvord  used  twice  by  Bildad  in  this  sense 
(8:  3);  "the  same  which  Elihu  used  (34:  12),  and  parallel  there 
with  the  verb — "do  wickedly";  the  same  which  we  meet  Lam.  3  : 
36  and  Ps.  119:  78; — always  in  the  same  sense.  Moreover  v.  7 
involves  the  same  idea ; — I  cry  out  of  wrong — the  wrong  done  me 
in  these  strange  inflictions  from  the  hand  of  God — but  1  am  not 
answered  (Heb.)  ;  "I  cry  aloud,  but  there  is  no  justice"  [done 
me].  Job  could  not  see  that  his  sins  had  been  as  much  greater 
than  those  of  other  men  as  his  sufferings  were  greater  than  theirs. 
He  was  deeply  conscious  of  having  honestly  sought  to  please  and 
obey  God.     He  knows  that  in  general  his  life  has  been  upright 


100  THE   BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XIX. 

and  his  heart  honest,  and  yet  no  man,  however  -wicked,  had  suf- 
fered as  he  had.  He  knows  that  hosts  of  wicked  men  are  openly, 
outrageously  oppressive,  cruel,  satanic;  and  yet  no  great  judg- 
ments fall  on  them  from  God's  hand.  This  looks  to  him  like 
perverting  his  cause.  Judged  of  by  the  appearance  thus  far — es- 
timated on  the  basis  of  what  God  has  already  done,  how  else  could 

he  view  the  case  ?    To  what  other  conclusion  could  he  come  ? 

His  great  mistake  lay  in  allowing  himself  to  make  up  a  charge 
against  the  justice  of  God  before  he  had  seen  the  whole  of  the 
case,  before  the  Lord  had  finished  his  retributions  upon  the  guilty, 
and  before  he  came  to  understand  wherefore  the  Lord  was  bring- 
ing upon  himself  these  sore  afflictions.  But  in  partial  apology 
for  Job  it  should  be  said  that  his  friends  were  continually  push- 
ing him  into  this  very  mistake.  They  were  perpetually  assuming 
that  God's  providences  were  administered  even  hei'e  and  now  in 
completed  justice,  so  that  at  every  step,  at  any  possible  point,  you 
might  bring  them  under  consideration  and  judge  of  their  moral 
quality  upon  the  basis  of  what  is  so  far  made  visible  to  mortals. 

As  bearing  upon  Job's  argument,  the  reader  will  notice  that  he 
had  said  (v.  5)  "  Prove  against  me  the  charges  ye  have  made." 
But  he  would  suggest  here  that  they  must  not  think  to  prove  those 
charges  by  a  mere  inference  of  guilt  drawn  from  these  inflictions 
of  God's  hand  upon  him  : — for,  said  he — "Kiiow  ye  (imperative 
mood) — consider  this  fact — God  is  not  dealing  with  me  upon 
strict  justice ;  he  is  even  wresting  my  cause.  As  compared  with 
his  administration  over  men  in  general,  he  is  visiting  upon  me 
far  more  than  my  relative  shai-e — more  than,  in  this  point  of  view, 
I  deserve.  Ye  can  not  therefore  infer  from  these  inflictions  that 
I  am  the  worst  of  earth-born  sinners. 

8.  He  hath  fenced  up  my  way  that  I  can  not  pass,  and  he 
hath  set  darkness  in  my  paths. 

9.  He  hath  stripped  me  of  my  glory,  and  taken  the  crown 
from  my  head. 

10.  He  hath  destro3^ed  me  on  eveiy  side,  and  I  am  gone : 
and  mine  hope  hath  he  removed  like  a  tree. 

11.  He  hath  also  kindled  his  "wrath  against  me,  and  he 
counteth  me  uuto  him  as  on£  of  Ins  enemies. 

12.  His  troops  come  together,  and  raise  up  their  way 
against  me,  and  encamp  round  about  my  tabernacle. 

Through  these  accumulated  figures  and  poetic  conceptions,  Job 
sets  forth  the  fearful  severity  of  God's  dealings  with  him.  Verily 
he  had  been  stripped  of  every  thing;  utterly  broken  down  in 
heart,  in  hope  ;  in  comforts  and  sources  of  pleasure ;  in  vital  forces 
and  life-powers,  till  he  was  on  the  verge  of  the  grave.  Of  social 
pleasure  from  fellow-beings,  none  remained  to  him ;  of  consolation 
and  hope   in  God — alas,   worst  of  all — even  these   were   almost 

dropping  out  from  his  soul  and  passing  beyond  his  grasp. In 

V.  10,  better ;  "  He  breaks  me  down  on  every  side."    Every  support 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XIX.  101 

on  which  T  have  leaned  is  torn  away. — My  hope  hath  he  removed 
as  the  ti-ee  is  uptorn  by  the  roots  and  cast  away  to  wither  and 
rot. — More  yet,  he  makes  his  anger  burn  against  me — (so  it  seems 
to  me);  he  treats  me  as  an  enemy;  he  brings  out  all  his  hosts  of 
armed  men  to  surround  me  and  lay  siege  to  my  tent  as  in  the 
fierce  assaults  of  war. 

13.  He  hath  put  my  brethren  fur  from  me,  vfad  mine 
acquaintance  are  verily  estranged  from  me. 

14.  My  kinsfolk  have  failed,  and  my  familiar  friends  have 
forgotten  me. 

15.  They  that  dwell  in  mine  house,  and  my  maids,  count 
me  for  a  stranger  :  I  am  an  alien  in  their  sight. 

As  Job  saw  things,  it  came  directly  from  God's  hand  that  his 
brethren  had  withdrawn  their  sympathy  and  made  themselves 
distant  and  regardless ;  that  all  his  old  acquaintances  were 
estranged  from  him — estranged  not  "verily"  but  wholli/,  alto- 
gether— this  being  the  sense  of  Job's  word.  Even  the  members 
of  his  household — his  maid-servants — came  to  regard  him  as  a 
foreigner — one  to  whom  they  owed  no  obligation  and  whom  it 
were  but  natural  to  despise  or  even  hate.  "I  am  become  an  alien 
in  their  eyes  " — a  fact  adduced  to  show  how  utterly  he  had  fallen 
from  the  position  of  esteem  and  honor  which  every  patriarch 
rightfully  held  in  his  own  household. 

16..  I  called  my  servant,  and  he  gave  me  no  answer ;  1 
entreated  him  with  my  mouth. 

17.  My  breath  is  strange  to  my  wife,  though  I  entreated 
for  the  children's  sake  of  mine  own  body. 

18.  Yea,  young  children  despised  me;  I  arose  and  they 
spake  against  me. 

19.  AH  my  inward  friends  abhorred  me:  and  they  whom 
I  loved  are  turned  against  me. 

Even  his  servant  had  lost  all  due  respect  for  him  so  utterly  as 
to  give  no  heed  to  his  call,  or  even  to  his  entreaty.  "My  breath 
is  offensive  even  to  my  wife,"  and  no  inspirations  of  conjugal  love 
prompt  her  to  faithful  nursing  and  kind  offices  to  her  suffering 

husband. The  last  clause  of  v.  17  is  construed  variously  by  the 

best  critics.  The  leading  questions  are  whether  the  first  Heb. 
word  is  a  noun  or  a  verb,  and  in  either  case,  what  it  7)ieans.  As  a 
verb,  some  give  it  the  sense — being  offensive ;  others — to  make 
supplication.  Taken  as  a  noun,  it  may  signify  7ni/  kindness 
"  (Fuerst) ;"  or  "my  supplication"  (Gesenius).  The  connecting 
verb  is  to  be  brought  forward  from  the  previous  clause,  tiuis:  My 
breath  is  offensive  to  my  wife;  my  kindness  (or  my  supplication) 
to  children  of  the  same  womb,  i.  e.,  to  my  natural  brethren.  If 
taken  as  a  verb,  it  would  read — I  am  offensive  to  my  own  broth- 
ers.  The  last  words  can  not  mean — children  of  my  own  body 

(for  the  word  means  womb)  but  children  of  the  same  womb  as 


102  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.  XIX. 

myself — born  of  the  same  mother.  We  may  remember  that  Job's 
own  children  were  all  dead.— — Young  children,  trained  in  orien- 
tal life  to  honor  the  aged,  yet  despise  me;  when  I  rise  up  and 
respectful  recognition   is   in  place,    they    speak   always   against 

me. The  translation — "  my   inward   friends  " — does  not   give 

well  the  sense  of  Job's  words,  which  mean — The  men  of  my  coun- 
sel; those  whom  I  had  taken  fully  into  my  confidence,  and  was 
accustomed  to  consult  as  my  best  friends.  That  these  should 
have  so  turned  against  him  as  to  abhor  him  is  a  fearful  indication 
of  a  terrible  fall  from  esteem  into  contempt. 

20.  My  bone  cleaveth  to  my  skin  and  to  my  flesh,  and  I 
am  escaped  with  the  skhi  of  my  teeth. 

21.  Have  pity  upon  me,  have  pity  upon  me,  O  ye  my 
friends  ;  for  the  hand  of  God  hath  touclied  me. 

22.  Why  do  ye  persecute  me  as  God,  and  are  not  satisfied 
with  ray  flesh  ? 

Job's  afflictions  do  not  end  with  this  universal  and  sovereign 
contempt  from  every  class  of  living  men,  women  and  children. 
If  only  his  health  had  been  perfect,  and  every  organ,  nerve  and 
tissue  of  his  body  were  in  prime  order,  he  might  have  fallen  back 
within  himself  with  some  resources  still  remaining  for  enjoyment. 
But  alas,  here,  too,  he  was  a  broken  down  man  !  Emaciated, 
wasted  away,  bones  cleaving  to  skin  and  flesh — what  remained  to 

him  of  real  living? "Escaped  with  the  skin  of  his  teeth"  is  a 

proverb  used  to  show  how  little  had  been  saved  to  him  out  of  the 

wreck  of  his  bodily  frame.     Ho  iv  much  was  this? Most  of  the 

visible  organs  of  the  body  are  covered  with  a  skin  ;  but  teeth  have 
none.     To  escape  therefore  with  only  "  the  skin  of  the  teeth  "  is 

to  escape  with  nothing! This  grouping  of  his  pains  brought 

upon  his  soul  the  keenest  possible  sense  of  unutterable  desolation 
and  forced  from  his  lips  this  imploring  cry  for  pity  and  compas- 
sion : — "  Have  pity  upon  me,  O  my  friends!  Have  pity  upon  me, 
for  the  most  bitter  pang  of  all  is  yet  untold — reserved  to  this 
last  utterance;  "The  hand  of  God  hath  touched  me  !  "  I  could 
bear  any  thing  else;  but  this,  how  can  I  bear!  Oh,  if  only  his 
smile  remained  to  me,  how  would  my  heart  exult!  If  I  could  but 
know  that  all  these  inflictions  came  from  some  other  hand 
than  his,  and  that  neither  his  hand  nor  heart  were  in  them,  how 
would  this  heaviest  of  my  burdens  be  lifted  from  my  poor  crushed 
heart! 

"  Pursue  me  as  God  " — should  naturally  mean — as  God  does — 
assumiug  it  to  be  your  duty  to  become  the  executioners  of  his 
sentence  of  death  against  me.  Yet  Job's  meaning  may  perhaps 
be — Why  do  ye  assume  to  be  acting  under  God  and  in  his  behalf 
in  the  torments  ye  inflict?  Or,  why  are  your  eyes  so  blind  to  my 
woes  and  your  hearts  so  merciless  ?  The  last  clause  is  quite  in 
harmony  with  this  view — "And  are  not  satisfied  Avith  my  flesh — 
tacitly  comparing  them  to  savage  beasts  who  devour  the  flesh  of 


THE    BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XIX.  103 

thoir  victim  and  are  yet  unsatisfied,  and  still  go  on  to  lap  his  blood 
and  toss  about  his  bare  bones,  and  glory  in  their  power  to  destroy  ! 
Remarkably  the  orientals  compare  the  keen  remorseless  appetite 
of  the  slanderer  -who  makes  utter  havoc  with  the  reputation  of  his 
victim,  to  the  wild  beast,  tearing  the  flesh  and  cranching  the  bones 
of  his  prey.  So  the  Chaldee  word  in  Dan.  3:  8  for  "accused" 
signifies — The;/  aie  up  the  pieces  of  the  Jews — devoured  them 
piecemeal.  Under  the  same  figure  Paul  said  to  the  Galatians 
((ilal.  5  :  15) — "  But  if  ye  bite  and  devour  one  another,  take  h&cd 
that  ye  be  not  consumed  one  of  another." 

23.  Oh  that  ray  words  were  now  written  !  oh  that  they  were 
prmtcd  in  a  book  ! 

24.  That  they  were  graven  witli  an  iron  pen  and  lead  in 
the  rock  for  ever  ! 

One  among  the  sharpest  of  his  griefs,  only  next  below  that  of 
being  smitten  and  disowned  of  God,  was  the  going  doAvn  to  his 
grave,  traduced,  maligned, — his  good  name  blackened ;  his  once 
fair  reputation  utterly  stricken  down,  with  none  to  plead  in  his 
behalf!  O  might  he  only  be  permitted  to  bear  his  protest  against 
this  insupportable  wrong!  0  might  his  words  be  put  on  some 
enduring  record.  Would  they  were  icritien  !  O  let  them  be  in- 
scribed not  merely  in  a  book — some  sort  of  book — but  in  the  book 
(this  is  what  he  said)  the  Avell  known  book — the  genealogical 
records  of  his  tribe  and  people,  into  which  records  important 
paragraphs  of  personal  history  Avere  not  infrequently  inserted,  as 
we  may  see  (Gen.  5:  24,  29  and  10:  8-12  and  1  Chron.  4:  39-43 
and  5:  1,  2,  9,  10,  18-22,  etc.)  And  yet  more — to  make  the  record 
imperishable — with  iron  pen  and  lead,  let  them  be  engraven  in 
the  rock  forever !  Such  inscriptions  on  the  everlasting  rocks  were 
well  understood  by  the  men  of  the  great  east  countries,  not  a  few 
of  them  having  endured  to  the  present  day.  O  could  we  find,  for 
away  in  that  land  of  Uz  these  testimonials  which  Job  would  fain 

have  recorded  there ! As  to  the  instrument  and  mode  for  such 

records,  we  must  not  think  of  a  pen  made  of  both  iron  and  lead ; 
but  a  pen  of  iron  only,  cut  the  Jetters  in  the  hard  face  of  the  rock; 
then  melted  lead,  poured  upon  the  chiseled  surface,  filled  the  cav- 
ities and  made  the  writing  indelible. 

25.  For  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  andthat  he  shall 
stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth : 

26.  And  though  after  my  skin  ivorvw  destroy  this  bodi/,  yet 
in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God : 

27.  Whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  be- 
hold, and  not  another :  though  my  reins  be  consumed  within 
me. 

These  verses  constitute  a  passage  of  unsurpassed  interest.  Noth- 
ing else  in  the  speeches  of  Job  equals  them.  AVe  might  perhaps 
say,  nothing  that  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  first  three  thou- 


104  THE    BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XIX. 

sand  years  of  our  world's  history  can  be  put  ahove  them — (a)  In 
point  of  the  li2;ht  thrown  by  them  upon  the  earliest  revelations  of 
God  to  men ;  (b)  For  their  bearing  upon  the  faith  and  hope  of  God's 
tried  and  tempted  people ;  (c)  For  tlieir  tone  of  moral  sublimity 
and  of  glorious  triumph  of  faith  over  sense — -of  trust  in  God,  de- 
spite of  the  utmost  accumulation  of  doubt,  temptation,  suffering 
and  physical  prostration. 

We  can  not  do  justice  to  this  passage  without  a  somewhat  care- 
ful, and,  if  need  be,  extended  consideration  of  the  following  points  : 

1.  The  connection  of  thought  in  which  they  stand  and  through 
which  they  are  reached  : 

2.  The  real  sense  of  the  words:  their  just  exposition  as  words 
and  phrases : 

3.  The  great  truths  which  these  words  involve : 

4.  The  antecedent  knowledge  which  the  words  seem  to  assume 
and  imply : 

5.  The  importance  of  the  passage  as  being  the  groat  crisis  in 
Job's  experience — the  hour  of  his  triumph  over  the  hot  and  ter- 
rible temptations  to  despair  which  had  almost  cost  him  his  soul: 

6.  Certain  indefensible  constructions  of  the  passage. 

1.  The  first  point — the  connection  of  thought  in  which  these 
words  stand — has  been  brought  out  in  part  by  the  preceding  con- 
text. We  therefore  need  only  recall  to  mind  that  Job,  stripped 
suddenly  and  utterly  of  his  great  wealth  ;  bereft  of  children  in 
one  day  ;  then  smitten  with  a  painful,  loathsome  and  prospectively 
fatal  disease — has  had  all  these  severe  sufferings  intensified  many 
fold  by  the  mistaken  views  and  the  consequently  severe  judgments 
of  his  three  friends.  Under  the  firm  conviction  that  these  inflic- 
tions from  God  proved  Job  to  be  the  chief  of  sinners  they  ceased 
not  for  one  moment  to  jiusli  this  doctrine  upon  him  mercilessly, 
allowing  no  place  in  their  souls  for  even  the  sympathies  of  our 
common  humanity. Under  the 'pressure  of  these  reiterated  as- 
sertions and  arguments,  it  seems  to  have  cost  Job  his  utmost  for- 
titude to  hold  fast  the  clear  and  invincible  convictions  of  his  soul 
that  he  had  been  sincere  and  honest  toward  God  and  never  had 
played  the  hypocrite.  No  words  can  do  justice  to  his  harassing 
perplexities  and  agonies  over  the  question — Wherefore  has  God 
sent  on  me  these  afflictions  ?  He  begged  that  God  would  give 
him  a  hearing  and  reveal  the  reasons  of  his  dark  ways  ;  but  no 
answer  came  from  God  to  these  prayers.  He  tried  to  rebut  the 
arguments  of  his  friends  ;  but  all  the  foots  of  his  case  were  appar 

ently   against  him  and  on    their    side. In  this   chapter  Job 

groups  in  rapid  succession  the  salient  points  of  his  case.  His 
friends  vexing  his  soul  and  putting  every  sensibility  to  torture ;  God 
wresting  his  cause  and  refusing  him  any  hearing  or  answer  to  his 
prayers ;  a  despised  man  among  his  fellow-beings,  sunk  below  re- 
spectful notice ;  his  good  name  foully  maligned  and  his  last  hope 
for  vindication  on  earth  fading  into  darkness — O,  said  he,  that, 
before  I  die  and  go  hence,  my  words  of  complaint  and  self-defense 
might  be  written,  inscribed  in  the  records  of  my  people,  engraved 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CIIAT.    XIX.  105 

in  the  everlasting  rock!  At  this  point — as  low  perhaps  in  hap- 
piness and  hope  as  a  human  soul  can  ever  sink — he  reaches  the 
crisis  and  makes  this  startling,  glorious  transition  I  There  is 
one  joy  left  to  me:  I  know  thai  my  Redeemer  livcih  I  I  knov?  a 
Redeemer  is  yet  to  come,  .the  Great  and  Blessed  Friend  of  most 
friendless  men!  I  shall  one  day  see  him;  my  cause,  therefore,  is 
far  indeed  from  being  hopeless  ! 

2.  We  must  look  more  closely  into  those  words  of  Job,  to  reach 

if  possible'  their  true  and  full   significance. The  expressions 

throughout  are  very  brief  and  most  of  them  not  a  little  obscure 
because  of  their  brevity.  Probably  no  critical  student  ever  put 
his  mind  to  their  interpretation  without  wishing  he  could  ask  Job 

himself  to  explain  his  meaning  more  fully. Unfortunately  for 

the  merely  English  reader  the  received  translation  is  very  imper- 
fect. The  unusually  large  number  of  words  in  italics  should  sug- 
gest this. 

The  first  clause  is  essentially  right — being  so  plain  it  could  not 
well  be  misapprehended.  "1  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 
The  Hebrew,  however,  makes  the  word  "I"  specially  emphatic: 
/  for  my  part;  I  to  my  joy  ;  /  whatever  may  be  true  of  others — 
/  hnoio  this  glorious  truth  ! 

"We  may  be  liable,  perhaps,  inadvertently,  to  include  more  ideas 
under  the  word  "  Redeemer"  than  Job  had  in  his  mind.  We  can 
not  wisely  assume  that  he  used  the  word  in  its  broad,  full-orbed 
gospel  sense.  We  are  forbidden  to  give  it  a  sense  so  broad  by 
two  general  considerations: — (a)  The  earlier  Old  Testament  sense 
of  this  word  was  more  limited  than  its  later  New  Testament  sense  : 
And  (b)  We  must  suppose  that  Job  used  it  in  a  sense  germain  to 
his  then  pending  case — i.  e.,  that  in  his  lips,  "My  Redeemer" 
was  essentially — my  vindicator ;  one  who  Avill  espouse  and  plead 
my  cause,  lift  me  out  of  these  depths  of  darkness  and  despair,  and 

be  in  very  deed  the  God  of  my  salvation. The  Old  Testament 

sense  of  the  word  for  "Redeemer"  *  seems  to  have  meant,  first 
of  all — a  man's  '"  next  friend,  "  usually  the  nearest  blood  relative  ; 
in  every  case,  the  friend  whose  office  it  was  to  stand  by  him  in 
trouble;  to  I'edeera  his  estate  from  incumbrance;  to  interpose 
when  necessary  in  behalf  of  his  personal  liberty;  and  not  least, 
to  avenge  his  blood  if  unrighteously  shed.  This  man  was  the  Re- 
deemer (the  Goel) — often  translated  "  the  avenger  of  blood,"  of  the 

Mosaic  Law.-j- Both  the  name  and  this  sense  of  it  appear,  not 

in  Hebrew  history  only,  but  in  all  oriental  life.  Thus  the  word 
"Redeemer"  obtained  its  earliest  significance. Further  on- 
ward as  used  (e.  </.)  by  Isaiah,  the  Redeemer  of  Israel  was  their 
national  Defender,  the  Savior  of  the  Zion  of  God — that  Zion  being 
then  embosomed  and  represented  in  the  external  fortunes  as  well 
as  the  religious  life  of  the  chosen  people.     Compare  Isa.  49 :  7,  26 

*  Goel. 

t Cases  of  its  n.sage  may  be  seen  in  Num.  35  :  12,  19,  21  and  Dent. 
19:  6,  12  and  Lev.  25:  25,  48,  49  and  in  Ruth  2:  20  and  3:  9,  12 
and  4 :  14. 


106  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XIX. 

and  41  :  14  and  43  :  14  and  44 :  6  and  47 :  4,  and  also  Ex.  G :  6  and 
Ps    19:  14  and  78:  35. 

That  Job  should  use  the  word  with  a  meaninc;  that  reached  and 
met  those  deepest  wants  of  his  sorrow-stricken  heart,  is  the  de- 
mand of  the  soundest  good  sense.  The  question  then  uppermost 
in  his  mind  was  not  whether  his  sins  could  be  forgiven  without 
an  atoning  Lamb  for  sacrifice,  nor  does  it  seem  even  to  have 
borne  specially  on  the  point  of  forgiveness  in  any  respect;  but 
rather  upon  the  point  of  vindication  from  the  cruel  charges  of 
supreme  wickedness  and  upon  the  question  whether  God  were  in 
fact  his  enemy  or  really  his  friend.  On  these  points  his  very 
soul  felt  most  intensely  his  need  of  a  Redeemer  in  that  early  Old 
Testament  sense,  and  therefore  in  that  sense  we  must  suppose  his 
words  are  to  be  understood.  The  question  whether  the  very  early 
prophetic  intimations  of  a  Messiah  may  have  shed  some  few  rays 
through  tradition  or  otherwise  upon  his  mind  will  be  considered 

in  the  sequel. The  original  words  translated — "He  shall  stand 

at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth" — are  more  closely  rendered  and 
perhaps  better  represented  thus:— He,  the  last  One,  shall  arise 
upon  the  earth.  "  Arise  "  however,  should  be  taken  in  the  sense 
of  putting  forth  his  power  in  signal  manifestations;  as  in  Ps.  3: 
7  and  7:^6  and  12:  5  and  44:  26  and  68:  1  and  102:  13  and  Isa. 
60:  1,  2.  "A7-ise"  is  precisely  the  sense  of  the  Heb.  verb;  but 
this  is  not  the  word  in  common  use  for  stand.     The  ultimate  sig- 

nificance^  however,  is  not  materially  different. The  word  for 

"latter"  or  last  may  refer  simply  to  time — the  latter  day;  or  it 
may  indicate  this  as  the  latest  among  several  manifestations  of 
God  before  men  on  the  earth. 

In  v.  26,  the  Hebrew  gives  us  no  word  for  "though  ;  "  none  for 
"  worms  ;  "  none  for  "  body."  The  words  it  does  give  will  naturally 
be  translated  thus:     "And  after  this  my  skin  they  have  cut  in 

pieces  and  even  outside  of  my  flesh,  I   shall   see  God." It  is 

generally  conceded  that  the  verb — they  have  cut  or  destroyed — 
might  be  equally  well  translated  in  the  simple  passive — is  de- 
stroyed. The  word  for  "  this  "  seems  to  be  made  emphatic  by 
position,  thus  :  After  my  skin  is  destroyed  even  this  one,  this 
already  almost  ruined,  perished,  skin.  Job  uses  the  word  "  skin" 
to  represent  his  entire  body,  wasted,  destroyed  and  turned  back 
to  its  primal  dust,  because  his  disease  was  one  of  the  skin  so  that 
pain  perpetually  turned  his  thought  to  this  part  of  his  animal 
frame.  The  original  verb  suggests  a  skin  hacked,  chipped,  mar- 
red to  ruin — thought  of  therefore  as  utterly  destroyed,  by  his 
terrible  leprosy,  and  perhaps  beyond  death,  by  the  corruption  of 
the  grave. 

The  last  claase  of  v.  26  begins,  not  with  "yet",  for  which  we 
find  no  equivalent  Hebrew  word ;  but  rather  and,  connecting  the 
words  that  next  follow  as  still  another  similar  circumstance  in 
his  condition.  "And  apart  from  my  flesh,  I  shall  see  God ". 
The  sense  of  the  Hebrew  can  not  be — m  my  flesh;  nor  can  it 
well  mean — looking  out  from  a  body  of  flesh;  but  must  be,  apart 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XIX.  107 

from  my  flosli;  I'cmovod  from  a  body  of  flesh  and  existing  -with- 
out, separated  from  it.  After  he  shall  have  laid  down  this 
mortal  body  and  shall  lie  no  longer  in  this  home  of  flesh,  he  Avill 
yet  see  God.  The  estnl)lished  nsage  of  the  Hebrew  preposition 
before  the  word  "flesh"  demands  this  sense:  the  parallel  senti- 
ment of  the  clause  next  preceding  supports  it.  The  human  body 
is  seen  destroyed. 

In  V.  27,  tiiie  word  I  is  made  emphatic  by  the  insertion  of  the 
pronoun  :  Whom  I  myself  and  for  myself  shall  see,  and  mine 
eyes  and  not  another's  eyes  for  me,  shall  behold.  He  means  to 
say  that  in  that  far  future  day,  he  shall  be  the  same  being, 
retaining  still  his  personal  identity,  seeing  for  himself  and  with 

his  own  joyous  vision  the  glorious  form  of  his  Redeemer. It 

should,  however,  be  said  that,  owing  to  the  indefiniteness  of  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  this  word  translated  "another"*  may  be  either 
subject  or  object,  i.  c,  may  be  read  either — I  and  not  another 
shall  see;  or  1  shall  see  him  and  not  another  than  him.  I  have  pre- 
ferred the  former  construction  as  being  in  harmony  with  the 
strain  of  thought.  Moreover  there  seems  to  be  no  special  perti- 
nence in  saying — Not  another  than  my  Redeemer— for  there  was 
no  ground  to  fear  any  mistake  as  to  his  identih/.  But  Job,  pass- 
ing through  the  anticipated  changes  of  death  and  the  under- 
world, might  well  be  comforted  in  the  thought  that  his  own  un- 
dying spirit  would  still  be  the  same. Yet  farther :  Since  this 

Hebrew  word  often  means  a  stranger,  foreigner,  and  hence,  in 
some  connections,  an  enemy,  some  critics  have  given  it  this  con- 
struction : — Whom  I  shall  see,  not  as  a  stranger  or  an  enemy, 
but  a  friend  and  a  brother.  The  objections  to  this  interpreta- 
tion are,  that  a  Redeemer  could  not  possibly  be  either  stranger 
or  enemy — the  essential  idea  of  the  term  being  the  very  oppo- 
site of  this — so  that  there  could  be  no  occasion  to  suggest  this; 
also,  that  it  is  only  in  special  connections  that  the  word  can  mean 
an  enemy.  Moreovei-,  we  have  the  Hebrew  usage  for  the  sense 
above  preferred — another  as  opposed  to  himself;  e.  g.,  Prov.  27: 
2:   "Let  another  praise  thee,  and  not  thine  own  lips." 

Noticeably,  the  last  clause,  which  literally  would  read — "My 
reins  are  consumed  in  my  bosom" — stands  wuth  no  connecting 
particle  corresponding  to  the  English  word  "  though  ".  We  are  left 
to  supply  what  the  sense  of  the  verse  seems  to  demand.  Some 
critics  suppose  that  the  word  ''though"  or  "  ivheii"  corresponds 
best  with  the  exigencies  of  the  clause — in  this  sense:  Desi:)ite 
of  the  utter  wasting  away  of  all  my  present  life-powers,  I  am  sure 
my  own  eyes  shall  yet  see  the  King  in  his  glory — see  him  as  my 
own  Blessed  Redeemer ! 

Another  quite  difierent  construction  harmonizes  well  with  the 
usage  of  the  Hebrew  words  and  has  the  sanction  of  Gesenius  and 
Fuerst  in  their  standard  Lexicons;  viz.,  this: — "My  soul  in  its 
deepest  sensibilities  has  pined  away  with  longing  desire  within 


108  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB, — CHAP.  XIX. 

me".  Ill  this  construction  -we  make  the  perfect  tense  of  the  verb 
prominent:  This  has  been  myexpcrience;  my  soul  has  been  in  an 
agony,  wasting  away  under  consuming  grief,  for  this  blessed 
vision.  That  this  clause  stands  entirely  independent,  having  no 
recognized  grammatical  connection  with  what  precedes,  favoi'S 
this  construction.     It  is  an  after-thought,  by  itself. 

In  a  passage  of  so  much  interest  and  importance,  the  reader 
will  be  gratified  to  see  how  modern  critics  translate  it. 
Noyes  thus : 

"  Yet  I  know  that  my  Vindicator  liveth, 

And  will  hereafter  stand  up  on  the  earth  ; 

And  though  with  my  skin  this  body  be  wasted  away, 

Yet  without  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God. 

Yea,  I  shall  see  him  my  friend  ; 

My  eyes  sliall  behold  him,  and  not  another : 

For  this  my  soul  panteth  within  me." 

Barnes  (vol.  1,  276)  thus: 

"  For  I  know  that  my  Avenger  liveth, 

And  that  hereafter  lie  shall  stand  upon  the  earth  ; 

And  though  after  my  skin  tliis  [flesh]  shall  be  destroyed, 

Yet  even  without  my  flesh  sliall  I  see  God; 

"Whom  I  shall  see  for  myself, 

And  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another, 

Though  my  vitals  are  wasting  away  within  me." 

Prof.  Green  (p.  201)  in  this  way: 

"  And  I  know  that  my  Eedeemer  liveth,  and  last  on  earth  shall  he 
arise ;  and  after  my  skin,  which  has  been  destroyed  thus,  and  out 
of  my  flesh  sliall  I  see  God." 

Prof.  Conant  as  follows : 

"  But  I,  I  know  my  Eedeemer  lives. 

And  in  after-time  will  stand  upon  the  earth ; 

And  after  this  my  skin  is  destroyed, 

And  without  my  flesh,  shall  I  see  God, 

"Whom  I,  for  myself,  shall  see. 

And  my  eyes  behold  and  not  another, 

"When  my  reins  are  consumed  within  me." 

3.  It  is  in  place  next  to  group  together  the  great  truths  which 
these  words  involve : 

(1)  God  had  already  provided  and  promised  a  Eedeemer  for  his 
peo])]e; — a  Eedeemer  then  living  but  not  yet  sent  down  to  stand 
on  the  earth — a  Eedeemer  personal  to  each  and  every  one  of  all 
his  people;,  the  real  Friend,  the  next  and  best  Friend,  of  every 
suffering,  needy  soul. 

(2)  This  Eedemer  was  truly  divine — worthy  to  bo  called  God, 
and  to  be  so  regarded. 

(.S)  This  Eedeemer  Avould  appear  at  some  future  day  in  the 
visible  manifestation  upon  this  earth,  not  of  his  power  only  but 
of  his  very  person. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XIX.  109 

(4)  Job  lielicTod  he  should  see  him,  even  after  his  then  present 
body  should  have  perished,  yet  outside  of  any  material  flesh,  he 
should  see  this  Redeemer  for  himself,  to  his  own  inexpress- 
ible joy. 

(5)  This  Redeemer  Avould  appear  for  his  personal  vindication, 
and  consequently  would  fulfill  the  functions  of  a  final  judge  upon 
the  moral  issues  of  the  present  life,  to  right  its  wi'ongs  and  admin- 
ister upon  all  moral  deeds  done  in  the  body.  This  idea  of  a 
future  judgment  is  brought  out  very  distinctly  in  the  verses  next 
following. 

(6)  Consequently  the  passage  involves  the  doctrine  of  o,  future 
life;  implies  it  so  necessarily  and  absolutely  as  to  put  it  beyond 
a  doubt. 

(7)  This  after-life  is  a  conscious  as  opposed  to  an  unconscious 
state  of  being. 

(8)  This  future  life  has  an  unbroken,  continuous  identity  with 
the  present — an  identity  not  of  being  only,  but  of  interest  and 
relationship — the  future  life  being  most  vitally  related  to  the 
present,  so  that  Job  can  assume  that  his  character,  though  vilified 
here,  will  be  vindicated  there. 

This  group  of  implied  and  involved  truths,  each  reader  will 
readily  see,  presents  points  of  immense  interest,  especially  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  age,  the  country  and  the  people 
among  whom  Job  was  living. Some  have  thought  that  the  pass- 
age involves  Job's  belief  in  a  future  resurrection.  I  can  not  see 
that  it  does.  There  is  nothing  here  to  forbid  it;  nor, do  I  see  any 
thing  here  that  necessarily  demands  it.  When  we  reject  the 
translation — "In  my  flesh  I  shall  see  God,"  and  put  it;  Apart 
from  my  flesh,  despite  of  its  being  wasted  away  by  disease  and 
death,  we  take  away  from  the  passage  that  which  has  been  sup- 
posed to  imply  a  resurrection.  Furthermore,  in  the  words  (v.  27) 
"Whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold  "  Job 
may  use  the  words  "see,"  "behold,"  in  the  sense  of  a  spiritual 
vision,  an  apprehension  of  his  Redeemer's  presence  which  does 
not  involve  the  physical  eye,  and  therefore  does  not  imply  a  soul 
seeing  through  a  risen  material  body. 

4.  The  antecedent  knowledge  assumed  here,  on  the  great  and 
vital  points  of  divine  truth. 

There  is  no  occasion  to  prove  that  this  passage  assumes  as  pre- 
viously known  the  being  of  a  God — even  of  a  personal  God  who 
is  moral  Ruler  and  final  Judge ;  and  of  a  future  life — a  real  con- 
tinuation of  the  present  with  no  break  in  the  continuity  of  a  con- 
scious existence.  The  points  demanding  special  inquiry  are— 
whether  Job  had  previously  known  that  God  was  truly  the  personal 
friend  of  his  people,  and  had  both  provided  and  promised  them  a 
Redeemer  who  should  at  some  future  day  come  upon  the  earth  to 
manifest  his  presence  and  his  love  in  this  very  world  of  ours.  In 
other  words,  had  some  rays  of  that  glorious  first  promise  of  Eden — 
made  somewhat  more  clear  to  Noah  and  next  to  Abraham — 
reached  the  eye  of  this  patriarch  of  the  early  ages  ?     1  do  not  see 


110  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.  XIX. 

how  this  can  be  rationally  doubted.  The  future  coming  of  a 
divine  Redeemer  to  plant  his  feet  upon  this  sin-cursed  eartli  and 
to  wage  the  fight  against  Satan  and  his  legions  on  this  battle- 
ground of  time,  was  not  a  doctrine  to  be  dreamed  out  in  the 
imaginations  of  men,  was  not  a  fact  to  be  assumed,  apart  from 
direct  revelation  from  God.  And  yet  it  was  a  fact  of  inexpress- 
ible moment  to  the  sons  of  men.  It  bore  upon  its  face  a  glorious 
testimony  to  the  love  of  the  Great  Father,  and  to  the  profound 
interest  felt  in  his  heart  for  the  moral  results  of  the  great  conflict 
in  which  Satan  heads  the  party  of  sin  and  evil  against  the 
Almighty.  It  revealed  the  chief  agencies  he  proj^osed  to  use  in 
achieving  his  foreordained  victory. — Now  it  was  every  thing  to 
lost  men  to  know  that  God  had  a  reserved  force  to  bring  into  the 
field  in  his  own  best  time  which  would  surely  crush  Satan  under 
his  feet  and  give  all  the  kingdoms  of  earth  to  his  Son.  Let  it 
then  be  well  considered  that  these  truths,  put  in  substantially 
this  definite  point  of  light,  were  the  substance  of  the  first  great 
■  promise — that  given  to  the  fiillen  pair  in  Eden.  Shall  we  believe 
that  this  precious  promise  dropped  out  of  the  living  thought  of 
that  succession  of  holy  men  who  walked  with  God  from  Adam  to 
Noah  and  from  Noah  to  Abraham,  and  onward?  Especially,  can 
this  be  made  to  appear  probable  in  view  of  the  virtual  renewal  of 
this  promise  to  Noah — "God  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem  ;" 
and  to  Abraham — "In  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  fixmilies 
of  the  earth  be  blessed?"  The  probability  seems  to  me  to  rise  to 
substantial  certainty  that  these  promises  were  remembered,  cher- 
ished, wrought  into  the  patient,  trusting  life  and  developed  into 
the  stern,  unfaltering  faith  of  those  earliest  saints  of  time.  Natur- 
ally they  would  form  the  staple  of  those  inspiring  traditions  which 
passed  down  from  generation  to  generation  of  God's  real  children 
and  which  spread  abroad  outward  into  other  lands,  together  Avith 
such  traditions  as  that  of  the  flood  and  of  God's  special  manifesta- 
tions to  men  from  time  to  time  in  dreams  and  visions  of  the 
night. — Let  it  now  be  carefully  considered  that  Job's  friends  and 
doubtless  himself  as  well  had  a  traditional  knowledge  of  the  flood, 
which  Eliphaz  describes,  even  to  the  sayings  of  those  giants  in 
moral  hardihood  and  wickedness  (22:  15-18).  How  then  can  we 
rationally  sup}X)se  they  had  never  heard  of  the  great  promise  of  a 
Redeemer  to  come  ?  That  Job  had  this  knowledge  is  a  fact,  for  it 
stands  out  in  the  words  of  this  passage.  The  origin  of  this  knowl- 
edge in  his  mind  is  the  problem — to  be  accounted  for  as  given 
him  either  by  direct  revelation  at  this  juncture  of  his  experience ; 
or  by  tradition  ; — with  the  odds  greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter.  The 
supernatural  should  never  be  assumed  when  the  natural  amply 
accounts  for  the  fiicts  of  the  case. — This  view  can  be  gainsayed 
only  by  assuming  the  early  and  almost  universal  ignorance  of 
mankind — the  very  early  lapse  into  barbarism  and  idolatry  of  the, 
great  nations  and  tribes  of  antiquity  and  the  extinction  of  those' 
grand  traditions,  freighted  with  the  divine  light  vouchsafed  to  the 
sainted  patriarchs  from  Adam  to  Abraham. 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAr.    XIX.  Ill 

In  my  jucliTment  this  assumption  has  embraced  too  much  and 

has  rested  on  quite  insufficient  authority. The  subject  is  too 

vast  to  be  treated  exhaustively  here.  Let  it  suffice  to  suggest  that 
Egypt  had  the  doctrine  of  the  future  life,  of  the  soul's  immor- 
tality, and  of  future  rewards  and  punishments  ;  and  if  Egypt,  then 
doubtless  Edom  and  the  renowned  sages  of  the  great  east  country 
of  Arabia.  Yet  further,  this  book  of  Job  is  itself  good  proof 
that  his  people  had  not  lapsed  into  the  grosser  forms  of  idolatry — 
the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies  iDeing  referred  to  as  then 
known,  and  this  only. 

5.  Let  us  briefly  note  the  importance  of  this  passage  and  of  the 
grand  truths  it  involves,  as  forming  a  crisis  in  Job's  moral  struggle 
— the  hour  of  his  triumph  over  the  terrible  temptations  which 
had  almost  driven  him  into  despair.  In  reading  thoughtfully  this 
19th  chapter  we  pass  from  point  to  point  in  his  recital  of  his  griefs 
and  note  the  rising  tide  of  his  emotions  and  the  deepening  agonies 
of  his  soul,  till  at  length  we  hear  him  passionately  exclaim — Oh  that 
my  words  of  self-vindication  were  written  in  the  enduring  records 
of  my  people  !     Oh,  that  they  were  graven  with  iron  pen  in  the 

everlasting  rock ! Then  all  suddenly  it  flashes  over  his  soul — 

Why  should  I  long  so  passionately  for  such  a  doubtful  and  at  best, 
but  feeble  vindication,  when  I  know  that  I  have  a  great  and  glo- 
rious Vindicator  on  high  ;  when  I  know  he  will  one  day  arise  upon 
this  earth;  when  I  know  these  tear-dimmed  eyes  will  surely  see 
him  and  this  long  stricken  heart  will  feel  the  consolations  of  his 
presence  and  the  inexpressible  relief  of  his  vindication  I  Ah, 
this  was  one  of  the  things  he  had  most  longed  for — that  God  would 
somehow  give  him  a  hearing ;  would  bear  to  him  some  testimony 
of  his  substantial  approbation  ;  and  give  him  the  joy  of  his  per- 
sonal friendship  and  favor. This  Avas  such  a  revelation  of  God 

as  his  broken  heart  needed.  It  availed  (as  it  should)  to  lift  him 
out  of  the  "  Slough  of  Despond"  and  plant  his  feet  on  the  rock 
of  trust  in  a  living  Redeemer — a  Redeemer  given  to  suffering  man, 
sure  to  come  and  reveal  himself  personally  to  human  eyes  in 
God's  appointed  time — a  Redeemer  whom  Job  knows  he  shall  see 
in  some  bright  day  of  the  future,  despite  of  the  perishing  of  his 
already  wasted  mortal  flesh.  It  was  .faith  giving  the  victory  over 
sense. 

Let  us  not  fail  to  notice  that  Job's  salvation  from  the  combined 
assaults  of  the  devil  and  of  his  mistaken  friends — this  uplifting 
of  his  sinking  heart  above  his  fearful  sufferings  and  terrible 
temptations — was  due,  apparently,  to  his  recalling  to  mind  that 
great  primal  promise  of  a  Redeemer.  The  case  serves  to  show 
how  vital  to  the  religious  life  in  man  were  those  rays  of  light  re- 
vealed from  the  heavenly  foujitain,  even  though  few  and  dim. 
How  could  fiillen  man  have  ever  groped  his  way  through  the  dark- 
ness of  sin  and  doubt,  and  fought  his  fight  against  the  powers  of 
hell,  if  God  had  not  spoken  out  of  heaven  some  blessed  words  of 
promise  ?  This  case  of  Job  is  a  grand  illustration  of  the  saving 
power  of  truth  revealed  from  God  as  compared  with  the  best  light 


112  THE    BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XIX. 

of  nature,  even  thoup;h  supplemented  with  the  noblest  intuitions 
and  assertions  of  the  best  human  thought  and  heart. 

6.  Of  other  constructions  of  this  passage,  not  in  my  view  de- 
fensible, the  most  prominent  is  that  which  assumes  its  reference 
to  some  divine  interposition  to  vindicate  Job  in  the  very  near  fu- 
ture, before  his  natural  death  ;   either  that  which  is  recorded  chap. 

38-42,  or  something  else  of  analogous  sort. It  should  suffice  to 

refute  this  construction  that  Job  manifestly  implies  that  he  must 
die  before  he  sees  his  Redeemer.  The  coming  of  his  Redeemer 
to  stand  upon  this  earth  is  fiir  in  the  future  beyond  his  own  mor- 
tal life.  The  exposition  given  above  rests  upon  the  fair  and  even 
necessary  sense  of  Job's  words,  supported  moreover  by  its  entire 
and  even  beautiful  harmony  with  the  context — i.  e..  with  Job's 
intense  desire  for  some  due  vindication  of  his  character.  The 
theory  which  assumes  no  future  Ufe  in  this  passage  and  no  Be- 
deemer  to  appear  on  the  earth  in  the  then  remote  ages  of  our  world's 
history,  but  only  some  manifestations  to  be  made  in  Job's  behalf 
before  his  death — disregards  the  obvious  and  necessary  sense  of 
Job's  words,   and   is  therefore  unfounded  and  indefensible. 

28.  But  ye  should  say,  Why  persecute  we  him,  seeing  the 
root  of  the  matter  is  found  in  me? 

29.  Be  ye  afraid  of  the  sword  :  for  wrath  bringeth  the  pun- 
ishments of  the  sword,  that  ye  may  know  there  is  a  judgment. 

The  first  word  of  v.  28,  giving  the  relation  of  these  two  verses 
to  what  precedes,  is  not  well  put  by  the  word  "  But."  It  is  rather 
If  or  Becmise,  for — to  be  translated  thus :  For  ye  say ;  or  Be- 
cause ye  say.  The  spirit,  the  animus  of  your  speeches  is — How 
will  we  pursue  him  1  How  will  we  overwhelm  him  with  our  ar- 
guments and  cut  him  with  our  reproaches ! Since  ye  are  in 

spirit  saying  this,  while  yet  "the  root  of  the  matter"  [intrinsic 
rectitude]  is  found  in  me,  I  warn  you  to  stand  in  fear  of  the 
sword  [of  justice];  for  [such]  wrath  is  a  crime  for  the  sword  [to 
punish],  that  j^e  may  know  there  is  a  judgment  [for  the  sins  of 
men].  Job  holds  that  the  animus  of  their  assault  upon  him  is 
vindictive;  that  neither  his  own  moral  state  of  heart  nor  his  out- 
ward life  by  any  means  justify  such  vindictive  persecution;  and 
that  human  law  or  God's  righteous  retributions  (probably  the 
latter)  will  surely  take  cognizance  of  their  crime  and  cause  them 
to  know  that  there  is  a  coming  judgment. 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOE. — CHAT.  XX.  113 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Zopliar  replies. 

This  last  speech  of  Zophar  makes  no  real  advance  in  the  gen- 
eral argnment.  It  is  simply  a  reiteration  of  the  very  points  which 
have  appeared  in  every  speech  made  liy  either  of  the  three 
friends ; — viz.  that  wicked  men  never  prosper  beyond  the  moment, 
but  meet  with  all  manner  of  reverses,  disappointments,  calamities. 
On  these  he  rings  the  changes  and  accumulates  his  general  state- 
ments which  he  puts  as  the  ever  recurring  facts  of  human  life, 
assuming  throughout  that  to  this  course  of  the  divine  providence, 
there  neither  are  nor  can  be  any  exceptions.  He  leaves  it  to 
.Job  to  infer  that  this  universal  law  of  God's  administration  toward 
the  wicked  means  him — must  certainly  include  him — for  such  an 
accumulation  of  judgments  as  those  under  which   they  see  JoVj 

suffering  never  fell  on  the  vilest  of   men  before ! Expanding 

his  general  sentiment  into  particulars  he  shows  that  the  higher 
a  wicked  man  rises  in  apparent  prosperity,  the  deeper  and  more 
terrible  his  fi\ll  (4-11);  that  his  good  things  (like  unwholesome 
sweetmeats)  beget  fatal  disease  (v.  12-17),  and  that  the  never-fail- 
ing law  of  restitution  and  retaliation  makes  his  retribution 
inevitable — in  which  all  heaven  and  earth  conspire  ;  the  hand 
of  man  and  the  hand  of  God  combine  to  make  it  fatally  eifec- 
tive  (18-29). 

1.  Tlien  answ^ered  Zopliar  the  Naaraatliite,  and  said, 

2.  Therefore  do  my  thoughts  cause  me  to  answer,  and  for 
this  I  make  haste. 

3.  I  have  heard  the  check  of  my  reproach,  and  the  spirit 
of  my  understanding  causeth  me  to  answer. 

Zopliar  opens  with  an  apology  for  speaking.  He  is  so  presse'd 
in  spirit  and  so  stung  with  Job's  reproaches,  that  he  can  restrain 

himself  no  longer. Perhaps  we  may  assume  an  undertone  of 

feeling  like  this  : — You  spe.ak  of  being  rasped  and  stung  with  the 
insinuations  and  reproaches  of  your  three  friends ;  and  pressed  in 
spirit  even  to  agony,  under  their  severe  words :  but  please  remem- 
ber— that  sense  of  suffering  keen  reproach  is  not  all  on  one  side: 
the  pressure  on  the  heart  to  speak  out  is  not  confined  to  yourself. 
I  too  feel  my  heart  hot  within  me.  ]\Iy  soul  burns  to  make  answer 
and  to  rebut  the  reproachful  charges  you  too  have  made.  8o  that 
on  both  sides  this  discussion  had  Avaxed  warm  and  had  made  the 

hearts  of  old  friends  sore. Therefore    {i.  e.,  because  of  your 

severe  reproaches)  do  my  thoughts  within  me  press  me  to  make 

reply.     Because  of  this  there  is  eager  haste  within  me. In  v. 

3,  the  Heb.  verb  being  in  the  future  tense  (indicating  at  least  un- 
finished time)  should  not  be  read — "  I  have  heard,"  but  I  shall  or 
must  hear — the  sense  being:    You  will  never  desist  from  it;  I  am 
6 


114  THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XX 

doomed  to  be  tormented  thus ;  and  must  therefore  have  my  say 
in  self-defense. 

4.  Knowest  thou  not  this  of  old,  since  man  was  placed 
upon  earth, 

5.  That  the  triumphing  of  the  wicked  is  short,  and  the  joy 
of  the  hypocrite  but  for  a  moment  ? 

The  word  '^  not"  is  wanting  in  the  Hebrew.  More  literally, 
therefore,  we  may  read — Dost  thou  know  this  to  have  been  the 
case  from  most  ancient  times  ?  Art  thou  aware  of  this  fact  ? 
Thou  hast  spoken  (strangely),  as  if  this  fact  had  escaped  thee — 

were  quite  forgotten. Zophar  would  admit  that  wicked  men  do 

sometimes  triumph,  exulting  in  their  prosperity  ;  but  maintains 
that  it  is  very  short — only  for  a  moment. 

6.  Though  his  excellency  mount  up  to  the  heavens,  and 
his  head  reach  unto  the  clouds ; 

7.  Yet  he  shall  perish  for  ever  like  his  own  dung :  they 
which  have  seen  him  shall  say,  Where  is  he  ? 

The  translation  (v.  7)  "  like  his  own  dung" — should  give  place 
to  one  less  low  and  disgusting  in  its  associations,  and  at  the  same 
time,  more  sensible ; — viz.,  according  to  his  greatness,  so  shall  he 
perish  forever,  i.  e.,  his  fall  shall  be  deep  as  his  exaltation  was 
high.  The  Heb.  word  readily  admits  this  sense — that  which  has 
been  rolled  vp  and  is  therefore  high,  lofty.     The  Arabic  analogies 

sustain  this  sense. The  disputants  in  Job  are  sometimes  severe, 

but  never  descend  to  low,  vulgar  comparisons.    That  one  step  from 
the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  they  are  not  given  to  taking. 

8.  He  shall  fly  away  as  a  dream,  and  shall  not  be  found : 
yea,  he  shall  be  chased  away  as  a  vision  of  the  night. 

9.  The  eye  also  ivhich  saw  him  shall  see  him  no  more ; 
neither  shall  his  place  any  more  behold  him. 

"Gone  like  a  dream  when  one  awaketh" — vanished  away, 
leaving  not  a  trace  behind — is  a  telling  image.  Who  has  not  felt 
its  force  ?  8o  (Zophar  affirms)  the  wicked  man,  lofty  and 
strong  though  he  may  have  been,  disappears  from  the  face  of 
the  world. 

10.  His  children  shall  seek  to  please  the  poor,  and  his 
hands  shall  restore  their  goods. 

11.  His  bones  are  full  of  the  sin  of  his  youth,  which  shall 
lie  down  with  him  in  the  dust. 

Of  the  first  clause  in  v.  10,  two  constructions  are  possible : 
that  of  our  English  version,  supported  by  Gesenius,  "  His  sons 
shall  seek  the  favor  of  the  poor,  or  what  comes  to  the  same  thing 
— shall  conciliate  the  poor  ;  i.  e.,  by  restoring  the  goods  extorted 
from  them".  And  the  following,  given  by  Conant;  viz.,  "His 
sons,  the  weak  shall  oppress  " — so  powei'less  are  they.    The  former 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XX.  115 

construction  assumes  that  the  wicked  man  of  whom  he  speaks  has 
robbed  and  plundered  the  poor,  and  now  in  retribution,  his  sons 
are  forced  to  conciliate  their  good-will,  glad  to  restore  what  their 
father  had  taken  away  by  robbery  or  fravjd.  The  relation  of  the 
second  clause  to  the  first  favors  this.  In  verse  11,  there  is  no 
occasion  to  supply  the  words — "  of  the  sin",  and  therefore  they 
should  not  be  supplied,  there  being  no  such  words  in  the  original, 
and  nothing  in  the  connection  to  demand  them.  Better  thus  : 
"His  bones  are  full  of  youth",  i.  e.,  of  youthful  vigor;  yet  shall 
it  lie  down  with  him  in  the  dust — it  shall  not  save  him  from  an 
early  death. 

12.  Though  wickedness  be  sweet  iu  his  mouth,  though  he 
hide  it  under  his  tongue  : 

13.  Though  he  spare  it,  and  forsake  it  not;  but  keep  it 
still  within  his  mouth : 

14.  Yet  his  meat  in  his  bowels  is  turned,  it  is  the  gall  of 
asps  within  him. 

Wickedness  is  like  sweetmeats,  delicious  to  the  taste,  but  wont 

to  turn  to  acidity  and  gall  in  the  stomach. In  v.  13,  "spare 

it" — be  mercifully  tender  of  it;  never  let  it  go;  yet  does  it  turn 
to  poison  in  his  bowels ! 

15.  He  hath  swallowed  down  riches,  and  he  shall  vomit 
them  up  again:  God  shall  cast  them  out  of  his  belly. 

16.  He  shall  suck  the  poison  of  asps :  the  viper's  tongue 
shall  slay  him. 

17.  He  shall  not  see  the  rivers,  the  floods,  the  brooks  of 
honey  and  butter. 

Still  retaining  the  same  general  figure,  yet  applying  it  in  detail, 
Zophar  thinks  of  him  as  swallowing  down  the  riches  he  may 
have  unrighteously  acquired;  but  his  stomach  sickens;   he  vomits 

it  all  up.     God  dispossesses  him  of  them  (Heb.) In  v.  17,  the 

word  for  "  rivers  "  refers  to  channels  cut  for  irrigation — associated, 
therefore,  with  great  fertility.  He  shall  never  see  such  symbols 
of  fertility ;  butter  and  honey  shall  not  flow  freely  forth  for  him. 

18.  That  which  he  labored  for  shall  he  restore,  and  shall 
not  swallow  it  down :  according  to  his  substance  shall  the 
restitution  be,  and  he  shall  not  rejoice  therein, 

19.  Because  he  hath  oppressed  and  hath  forsaken  the  poor ; 
heca^ise  he  hath  violently  taken  away  a  house  which  he 
builded  not ; 

In  the  last  clause  of  v.  18,  the  more  precise  sense  is — It  shall 
be  as  borrowed  treasures,  not  his  own,  and  therefore  he  shall  not 

rejoice   in  them,  but  shall  be   compelled   to    restore. V.  19 

should  close,  not  with  a  suspended  but  with  a  completed  sense  : 
"  Because  he  hath  oppressed,  hath  forsaken  the  poor,  the  houses 


116  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XX. 

he  has  seized  by  violence  he  shall  not  build  up.  They  shall 
avail  him  nothing".  Houses  seized  by  extortion  shall  perish 
from  his  hands.  A  house  so  obtained  he  shall  never  build  up 
into  a  quiet  and  sure  dwelling  for  himself. 

20.  Surely  he  shall  not  feel  quietness  in  his  helly,  he  shall 
not  save  of  that  which  he  desired. 

21.  There  shall  none  of  his  meat  be  left;  therefore  shall 
no  man  look  for  his  goods. 

The  first  AA'ord  of  v.  20  should  not  be  "Surely"  but  Because. — 
the  sense  being  this:  Because  he  knew  no  rest  in  his  bosom; 
because  his  avarice  was  insatiable — his  greed  for  money  quench- 
less, never  leaving  his  soul  at  rest — therefore  he  shall  save  noth- 
ing of  what  he  delighted  in. So  also  in  v.  21,  the  two  clauses 

express  one  thought — thus:  Nothing  escaped  his  devouring 
(literally  his-"  eating");  therefore  his  prosperity  shall  not  be  en- 
during (Heb.  strong,  firm).  Our  English  version,  "look  Jor", 
quite  mistakes  the  root  from  which  the  verb  comes. 

22.  In  the  fullness  of  his  sufficiency  he  shall  be  in  straits  : 
every  hand  of  the  wicked  shall  come  upon  him. 

23.  When  he  is  about  to  fill  his  bell}'',  God  shall  cast  the 
fury  of  his  wrath  upon  him,  and  shall  rain  it  upon  him  while 
he  is  eating. 

At  the  point  where  he  seemed  to  have  every  thing  in  all- 
sufficiency,  suddenly  he  is  in  straits,  shorn  of  all.  Every  hand — 
not  of  the  "  icicked",  but  of  the  wretched  shall  come  upon  him. 
Probably  he  means — of  those  whom  his  oppressions  have  made 
wretched  ;   every  such  hand  comes  upon  him  in   retribution   for 

his  violence. The  next  clause  is  better  as  an  exclamation: — 

"  His  belly  shall  be  filled  "  ! Last  clause  of  v.  23  : — "  God  shall 

rain  his  food  upon  him  " — his  food  being  that  with  which  God 
shall  fill  his  belly — ^judgments  sent  in  swift  and  fearful  retrilm- 
tion.  Compare  Ps.  11:  6:  "Upon  the  wicked  God  shall  rain 
snares,  fire  and  brimstone,  and  a  horrible  tempest — the  portion 
of  their  cup". 

24.  He  shall  flee  from  the  iron  weapon,  and  the  bow  of 
steel  shall  strike  him  through. 

25.  It  is  drawn,  and  cometh  out  of  the  body;  yea,  the 
glittering  sword  cometh  out  of  his  gall :  terrors  are  uj)on  him. 

The  shafts  of  an  avenging  God  pierce  him  through  and 
through  with  deadly  wounds.  While  he  would  escape  one  weapon 
by  flight,  another  smites  him   (v.  25); — he  draws  out  the  arrow 

from  the  wound  it  has  made. "The  glittering  sword"  or  the 

gleaming  weapon — the  word  often  used  for  the  lightning's  Jia.<ih, 
coming  out  of  his  gall — the  wound  is  of  course  deadly.  The 
wounded  man  sees  this  and  terrors  seize  upon  him!  Alas,  he 
must  die  I 


THE     BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAr.    XXI.  117 

26.  All  darkness  shall  be  hid  in  his  secret  places:  a  fire  not 
blown  shall  consume  him ;  it  shall  go  ill  with  him  that  is 
left  in  his  tabernacle. 

27.  The  heavens  shall  reveal  his  iaiiquity;  and  the  earth 
shall  rise  up  against  him, 

28.  The  increase  of  his  house  shall  depart,  and  Jm  goods 
shall  flow  away  in  the  day  of  his  wrath. 

29.  This  is  the  portion  of  a  wicked  man  from  God,  and 
the  heritage  appointed  unto  him  by  God. 

"All  darkness  is  hoai-ded  for  his  treasure" — "darkness"  as 
usual  being  symbolic  of  all  extremest  calamity.     How  it  takes  the 

place  of  his  choicest  treasures  ! "  A  fire  not  blown  ",  but  one 

self-originated  as  if  it  were  a  spontaneous  combustion,  starting, 
no  one  knows  how  or  whence — consumes  him.  Most  terrible 
retribution  springs  upon  him  from  every  unexpected  quarter.     It 

devours   all  that   have  survived  in   his  tent. Does  this  tacitly 

allude  to  the  tornado  which  buried  all  Job's  children  under  the 
ruins  of  the  one  house  where  they  were  feasting  ? 

Heaven  comes  down  to  disclose  his  sin  ;  earth  rises  up  as  if  to 

finish  the   awful  retribution  ! All   the   accumulations   of   his 

estate  ("increase  of  his  house")  shall  "go  into  captivity"  (the 
sense  suggested  by  the  Hebrew  word),  passing  away  as  if  borne 

ofi"  by  a  conquering  foe. So  the  wicked  man  meets  his  doom 

under  the  retributions  ordained  by  the  Almighty ! 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

Job's  rcj)};/. 

Job  grapples  vigorously  with  the  one  main  argument  which  his 
friends  have  perpetually  pressed  upon  him.  Whereas  they  have 
maintained  that  in  fact  the  wicked  experience  their  retribution 
in  this  life— a  retribution  at  once  perfect  in  degree  and  embracing 
all  the  wicked  without  exception — Job  here  replies — that  the  facts 
are  not  as  they  have  claimed,  for  the  wicked  do  live  on ;  become 
old  and  mighty  in  power  (v.  7);  their  oifspring  live  prosperously 
and  their  wealth  is  secure  (v.  8-12);  they  spend  their  days  in  the 
midst  of  all  worldly  good,  and  then  die  suddenly,  with  no  linger- 
ing, wasting  sickness  (v.  13) ;  they  become  defiant  toAvard  God 
and  give  him  neither'fear  nor  homage  (v.  14-16);  you  can  not  say 
their  candle  is  put  out  soon  and  suddenly  (v.  17,  18)  ;  and  it  mat- 
ters little  to  them  Avhat  God  does  with  their  children  after  they 
are  dead  (v.  19-22).  There  are  extreme  inequalities  in  the  dis- 
pensations of  God's  providence  (v.   23-2G).     I  sec   through  the 


118  THE    BOOK  OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXI. 

fallacies  of  your  argument  (v.  27,  28) ;  the  testimony  of  men  of 
great  travel  shows  that  the  case  of  the  wicked  holds  over  for  a 
future  retribution,  and  is  not  completed  in  this  life  (v.  29,  30). 
They  die  in  honor  and  lie  down  in  no  ignoble  or  dishonored 
graves  (v.  31-33),  so  that  your  consolations  for  me  lack  the  ele- 
ment of  truthfulness  and  hence  avail  me  nothing  (v.  34). 

1.  But  Job  answei'ed  and  said, 

2.  Hear  diligently  my  speech,  and  let  this  be  your  conso- 
lations. 

3.  Suffer  me  that  I  may  speak ;  and  after  that  I  have 
spoken,  mock  on. 

Give  me  at  least  this  consolation  (since  I  can  expect  nothing 
better  from  you); — give  me  your  respectful  attention;  hear  me 
through,  and  then  go  on  to  abuse  and  reproach  me  with  disparag- 
ing insinuations — if  so  ye  will ! 

4.  As  for  me,  is  my  complaint  to  man  ?  and  if  it  xoere  so, 
why  should  not  my  spirit  be  troubled  ? 

5.  Mark  me,  and  be  astonislied,  and  lay  your  hand  upon 
your  mouth. 

6.  Even  when  I  remember  I  am  afraid,  and  trembling 
taketh  hold  on  my  flesh. 

Is  it  (o  mail  that  I  make  my  complaint?  Nay,  verily;  but  to 
God.  Inasmuch  as  the  great  questions  that  perplex  and  distress 
me  even  to  agony,  all  lie  between  myself  and  God,  why  should  I 

not  be  troubled  ? In  v.  4,  our  English  Bible  reverses  the  true 

sense,  for  it  assumes  that  he  might  well  be  troubled  if  his  com- 
plaint lay  with  man.  The  mistake  is  made  by  misconceiving  the 
Heb.  word  translated  "if."  It  is  not  if,  but  simply  indicates  and 
asks  a  second  question,  corresponding  to  that  in  the  first  clause. 
The  first  clause  assumes  a  negative  answer  as  but  too  well  known 
to  his  opponents  to  need  argument.  Hence  I  would  paraphrase: — 
"As  for  me,  is  my  complaint  to  man?  [Since  it  is  not,  but  is  to 
and  of  God]  why  should  I  not  be  troubled? — Look  upon  me  and 
take  in  the  whole  of  my  case  : — ye  will  be  astonished !  Lay  your 
hand  in  silent  amazement  upon  your  mouth !  For  myself,  when  I 
recall  these  fiicts  of  my  case,  I  am  full  of  fear;  my  flesh  trembles! 
Oh  how  I  dread  the  manifest  wrath  of  the  Almighty  !  What  may 
not  come  next!" 

7.  Wherefore  do  the  wicked  live,  become  old,  yea,  are 
mighty  in  power? 

8.  Their  seed  is  established  in  their  sight  with  tliem,  and 
their  ofl'spring  before  tlieir  eyes. 

9.  Their  houses  are  safe  from  fear,  neither  is  the  rod  of 
God  upon  them. 

But,  passing  these  strange  and  fearful  facts  of  my  sufifering,  and 
taking  up  your  main  arguments  against  me,  I  must  ask  you  how, 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXI.  119 

on  your  theory,  you  account  for  it  that  the  wicked  live  long  and 
prosperously,  and  become  great  in  power?  And  how  is  it  that 
their  children  are  established  peacefully  before  their  eyes,  within 
their  own  tents,  in  the  joy  of  a  happy  household — their  homes 
safe  from  fear,  and  no  rod  of  God's  displeasure  or  retribution  falls 
upon  them?  One  such  case  upsets  your  argument  entirely;  ye 
surely  must  know  there  are  many  such. 

10.  Their  bull  gendercth,  and  failetli  not;  their  cow  calv- 
eth,  and  casteth  not  her  calf. 

11.  They  send  forth  their  little  ones  like  a  flock,  and  their 
children  dance. 

12.  They  take  the  timbrel  and  harp,  and  rejoice  at  the 
sound  of  the  organ. 

13.  They  spend  their  days  in  wealth,  and  in  a  moment  go 
down  to  the  grave. 

Their  property  being  in  flocks  and  herds,  it  was  pertinent  to 
say  that  in  this  business  they  escaped  the  losses  and  failures  inci- 
dent to  stock-raising.  Their  children  also  were  multiplied  like 
their  flocks  ;  ajl  healthy,  moreover,  and  happy.  Their  days  they 
spend  in  prosperity  to  the  end,  and  then,  with  no  pangs  in  their 
death  and  no  wasting  sickness,  they  drop  in  a  moment  into  their 
graves.  What  better  earthly  estate  does  man  ever  know  than 
theii"s  ? 

14.  Therefore  they  say  unto  God,  Depart  from  us ;  for  we 
desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways. 

15.  What  is  the  Almighty,  that  we  should  serve  him  ? 
and  what  profit  should  we  have,  if  we  pray  unto  him  ? 

"And  "  (the  Heb.  does  not  authorize  the  word  "  Therefore,"  as 
in  our  English) — they  are  so  emboldened  by  their  unbroken  pros- 
perity that  they  become  defiant  of  God  and  contemptuously  repel 
all  knowledge  of  his  ways  and  all  his  claims  upon  them  for  sei'vice, 
homage,  or  gratitude. — The  last  verb  in  v.  15,  "pray,"  suggests 
(in  the  original)  a  prayer  which  asaails  the  Lord  with  petitions; 
is  importunate  and  persistent.  What  would  be  the  profit  to  us 
(say  they)  of  even  the  most  importunate  prayers  ?  i.  e.,  they 
imply — We  get  all  the  good  we  care  for  without  laborious  praying. 

16.  Lo,  their  good  is  not  in  their  hand :  the  counsel  of 
the  wicked  is  far  from  me. 

In  the  first  clause,  the  most  obvious  sense  seems  to  be  quite  in 
conflict  with  the  strain  of  the  context.  Three  other  constructions 
may  be  suggested  between  which  the  choice  may  lie. — (a)  That  of 
Conant: — "Their  good" — i.  e.,  their  real  good,  in  the  true  and 
highest  sense,  is  not  in  their  possession,  or  within  their  grasp. 
Sentiment :  Though  the  wicked  may  have  only  prosperity,  yet 
impiety  is  folly,  and  godliness  the  only  true  Avisdom. — The  objec- 
tion to  this  construction  is  that  Job  (v.  13)  had  used  this  same 


120  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB.   -CHAP.    XXI. 

■word  good  (Eng.  "wealth)"  saying — They  spend — wear  out — all 
their  days  in  good.  How  then  should  he  so  suddenly  change  the 
sense  of  this  word  Avith  no  intimation  of  the  change  ? — (b)  I 
suggest  whether  it  is  admissible  to  use  the  words  "  In  their  hand" 
as  in  the  phrase — To  "take  one's  life  in  his  hand"  (Judg.  12:  3 
and  1  Sam.  18 :  5  and  28 :  20.  Job  13  :  14  and  Ps.  119  :  109)  i.  e., 
to  imply  what  is  specially  precarious,  exposed  to  imminent  danger 
of  loss.  Lo,  ye  see  their  prosperity  is  not  precarious — but  is 
stable. — Or  (c)  it  may  be  taken  ironically:  Ye  say  their  good  is 
not  in  their  hand :  What  could  be  more  so  ?  If  they  have  not 
prosperity  ever  in  their  hand,  who  on  the  earth  has  ? — To  this 
construction  I  see  no  serious  objection. — But  adds  Job,  great  and 
stable  as  their  prosperity  may  be,  I  have  no  sympathy  with  their 
counsels ;  I  abhor  their  principles ;  I  will  have  none  of  their 
ways  !     These  are  the  utterances  of  a  pious  heart. 

17.  How  oft  is  the  candle  of  the  wicked  put  out !  and  hoxo 
oft  Cometh  their  destruction  upon  them  !  God  distributeth 
sorrows  in  his  anger. 

18.  They  are  as  stubl^le  before  the  wind,  and  as  chaff  that 
the  storm  carrietli  away. 

The  meaning  of  the  clause — "  How  oft,"  etc.,  depends,  we  may 
say,  entirely  upon  the  emphasis  and  the  punctuation  at  its  close 
— whether  an  interrogation,  or  an  exclamation.  If  we  read — How 
oft  is  the  candle  of  the  wicked  put  out !  we  imply  that  it  is  in- 
deed very  often.  If  we  read — How  often  is  their  candle  put  out? 
we  ask  the  reader  to  consider  how  many  cases  he  can  recall,  and 

Ave  imply  that  he  will  not  find  many  such. Noav  here  it  is  plain 

that  the  latter  mode  of  reading  gives  the  real  thought  of  Job.  He 
did  not  see  many  such  cases.  There  might  be  some ;  but  they 
could  easily  be  counted.  Thousands  of  wicked  men,  however, 
lived  and  died  with  no  such  experience.  His  friends  had  affirmed 
tliat  this  was  the  universal  experience  of  wicked  men.  Job  says. 
No  !  by  no  means.  IIo^v  often  does  even  one  solitary  case  appear? 
Moreover  it  is  vital  to  the  true  sense  of  this  whole  passage  (v. 
17-19)  that  its  punctuation  should  be  made  to  accord  with  Job's 
real  meaning  in  his  argument — thus :  How  often  is  the  candle  of 
the  wicked  put  out  and  their  destruction  comes  upon  them  (as  ye 
say),  and  hoiv  oft  does  He  in  his  anger  distribute  sorrows  [among 
tlicm]  ?  Hoio  oft  are  they  as  stubble  before  the  wind  and  as 
chaiF  which  the  wind  drives  away  ?  Ye  have  made  sweeping 
declarations  affirming  these  visitations  of  calamity  upon  the 
wicked  to  be  universal ;  but  do  not  those  statements  need  to  be 
greatly  qualified — nay  more — limited  within  narrow  bounds  ? 

19.  God  layeth  up  his  iniquity  for  his  children  ;  he  re- 
wardeth  him,  and  he  shall  know  it. 

20.  His  eyes  shall  see  his  destruction,  and  he  shall  drink 
of  the  Avrath  of  the  Almighty. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAr.  XXI.  121 

21.  For  what  pleasure  hath  he  in  his  house  after  him,  Avhen 
the  number  of  his  months  is  cut  off  in  the  midst  ? 

Here  too  the  punctuation  is  vital  to  the  real  sense, — thus  :  Will 
God  treasure  up  his  iniquity  for  his  sons — i.  e.,  to  reap  the  fruit 
thereof?  On  him  (the  wicked  man  himself)  let  God  requite  it, 
that  he  may  know  !  If  God  would  have  his  providential  judg- 
ments understood  without  mistake,  let  him  visit  them  upon  the 
sinner  himself  and  not  lay  them  up  in  store  for  his  children  !— — • 
80  also  V.  20  :  "  Let  his  eyes  see  his  own  destruction,  and  let  him  " 
(the  sinner  who  commits  the  sin)  "  drink  of  the  wrath  of  the 
Almighty!"  And  v.  21 — "  For  what  of  pleasure  (or  pain  either) 
hath  he  in  his  house  (family)  after  him  " — (after  himself  is  dead) 
— "  and  the  number  of  his  months  is  cut  off  '  ?  This  is  a  very 
indefinite  and  uncertain  way  (Job  argues)  for  God  to  manifest 
retribution  for  sin  in  this  world. 

22.  Shall  amj  teach  God  kno^vledge  ?  seeing  he  judgcth 
those  that  are  high. 

Would  ye  assume  to  dictate  to  God  a  better  way  than  his  own 
to  manage  the  wicked  in  this  world?  Ye  are  perpetually  assum- 
ing that,  being  just,  he  ought  to  administer  his  government  with 
perfect  and  finished  justice  here  in  time;  but,  in  fact,  every  body 
must  see  that  he  does  not.  Are  ye  not  then  assuming  that  ye 
can  teach  him  how  he  ought  to  punish  sin  in  this  world  ?  Will 
ye  thus  essay  to  teach  God  a  higher  and  better  knoAvIedge  than 
his  own,  when  it  is  He  who  judges  all  the  high — the  loftiest  be- 
ings in  the  heavens  above  or  in  the  earth  beneath  ? 

23.  One  dieth  in  his  full  strength,  being  wholly  at  ease 
and  quiet. 

24.  His  breasts  are  full  of  milk,  and  his  bones  are  moist- 
ened with  marroAV. 

25.  And  another  dieth  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul,  and 
never  eateth  with  pleasure, 

26.  They  shall  lie  down  alike  in  the  dust,  and  the  worms 
shall  cover  them. 

There  is  a  diversity  amounting  to  contrast  in  the  fortunes  of 
men  under  the  government  of  the  same  God — a  diversity  which 
we  are  entirely  unable  to  explain  on  the  principle  of  a  present 
and  perfect  retribution  for  their  respective  sins.  One  dies  in  the 
very  essence,  fullness,  of  his  perfection  (Heb.) — every  thing  about 
him  at  the  highest  point  of  prosperity  :  Another  dieth  in  the  ex- 
tremest  soul-bitterness,  having  never  tasted  real  good.  Alike  they 
lie  down  in  the  grave,  and  ye  can  not  see  in  their  life  and  in  their 
death  any  reason  for  this  wide  diversity  in  the  Avays  of  God  toward 
them.* 

*The  first  Ileh.  word  in  v.  24  (Eng.  "breasts")  occurs  only  here. 
Its  precise  meaning,  therefore,  is  doubtful.  Some  authorities  give 
it — A  place  where  flocks  lie  down,  which   is    full  of  their  milk : 


122  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXI. 

27.  Behold,  I  know  your  thoughts,  and  the  devices  ivhich 
ye  wrongfully  imagine  against  me. 

28.  For  ye  say,  Where  is  the  house  of  the  prince  ?  and 
where  are  the  dwelling  places  of  the  wicked  ? 

"  Behold  "  calls  attention  to  a  new  point  in   his  speech. 1 

knoAV  your  ai'tfiil  wresting  of  the  doctrine  of  God's  providence  to 
make  it  bear  with  crushino;  force  upon  your  old  but  now  afflicted 
friend.  Ye  are  saying — Where  is  the  house  of  him  who  lived  as 
a  prince  among  his  people  ?  -  Where  in  all  the  ages  is  the  dwell- 
ing place  of  the  wicked  ?  Suddenly  swept  away  before  the  torna- 
does of  divine  wrath — as  thine,  0  Job,  has  been! So  I  under- 
stand Job  to  imply  that  his  friends  were  tacitly  bringing  their 
logic  to  bear  upon  himself  and  to  cut  deep  into  his  acute  sensi- 
bilities by  the  insinuation  that  Job's  case  came  under  the  general 
law — the  desolations  of  God's  judgments  always  coming  down 
upon  the  wicked. 

29.  Have  ye  not  asked  them  that  go  by  the  way  ?.  and  do 
ye  -not  know  their  tokens, 

30.  That  the  wicked  is  reserved  to  the  day  of  destruction? 
they  shall  be  brought  forth  to  the  day  of  wrath. 

31.  Who  shall  declare  his  way  to  his  face?  and  who  shall 
repay  him  xuhat  he  hath  done? 

Job's  friends  had  made  their  appeal  to  the  ancients  (8:  8-10 
and  15  :  10,  18,  19),  and  to  men  of  extensive  travel,  and  conse- 
quently, of  great  knowledge  of  God's  w.ays  toward  men.  Here 
Job  makes  a  similar  appeal.  Have  ye  not  asked  the  wayfaring 
men,  and  do  ye  not  understand  their  signs — the  indications  they 
have  given  of  their  opinions,  viz.,  that  the  wicked — far  from  be- 
ing punished  (as  they  deserved)  at  the  time  and  on  the  spot,  ai'e 
held  over,  reserved  to  some  future  day  of  destruction,  borne  on 

forward   to  the  day  of  wrath! Further,  (v.    31),    Who    faces 

them  down  by  charging  and  proving  their  sin  upon  them,  and 
bringing  them  to  condign  punishment  ?  No  one.  In  the  great 
majority  of  cases  this  is  never  done  in  this  world.  Wicked  men 
are  not  requited  here  for  their  sins. 

32.  Yet  shall  he  be  brought  to  the  grave,  and  shall  remain 
in  the  tomb. 

33.  The  clods  of  the  valley  shall  be  sweet  unto  him,  and 
every  man  shall  draw  after  him,  as  tJiere  are  innumerable 
before  him. 

34.  How  then  comfort  ye  me  in  vain,  seeing  in  your 
answers  there  remaineth  falsehood  ? 

Others  better  : — His  loins,  sides,  full  of  fat  (Gesenius) ;  but  Fuerst — 
His  sinews,  reins,  full  of  juice.  The  sense  of  the  passage  in  whole 
is  scai-cely  affected  by  these  diverse  senses  of  this  word. 


THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXII.  123 

We  must  begin  v.  32,  not  with  "  Yef,''  which  is  not  indicated  sit 
all  in  Hebrew"  and  damages  the  real  connection  of  thought;  but 
rather  -with  "A)id"—s\.  new  fact,    following  naturally  upon    the 

next  preceding. He  escapes  retribution  here  in  time — A)id  he 

(slightly  emphatic)  he,  this  wicked,  unpunished  man,  is  borne 
away  to  his  grave;  and  they  watch  over  his  tomb — (survivors 
guard  his  tomb  from  desecration,  even  as  they  have  buried  him 
with  honor).  The  clods  of  the  valley  are  as  sweet  to  him  as  to 
any  other  people;  men  follow  after  him  in  long  procession  at  his 
burial,  or  perhaps  the  sense  is,  "draw  after  him"  in  emulation 
of  his  great  prosperity — as  also  men  without  number  followed  the 
same  path  before  him.  Nothing  in  the  general  administration  of 
God  over  the  wicked  gives  such  warning  against  prosperous 
wickedness  as  deters  men  from  pursuing  the  same  path  age  after 
age. 

How  vain,  therefore  are  all  your  consolations — the  things  ye 
perpetually  suggest  and  reiterate — seeing  that  in  your  replies 
[arguments]  there  is  only  deception,  fallacy,  and  really  no  truth, 
no  harmony  at  all  with  the  actual  facts  of  human  history  ! 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

Last  speech  of  EUphaz. 

After  expressing  his  views  on  the  question  whether  man's  piety 
can  bring  to  God  either  profit  or  pleasure  (v.  2,  3),  Eliphaz  pro- 
ceeds to  charge  Job,  not  by  implication  only,  as  heretofore,  but 
directly  and  exj^licitly,  with  overt  crime  (v.  4—9)  ;  suggests  that  this 
has  been  the  cause  of  his  great  calamities  (v.  10,  ll);  intimates 
that  Job  must  have  thought  God  could  not  see  him  (v.  12-14); 
asks  him  if  he  still  persists  in  the  sinful  ways  and  defiant  spirit 
of  the  generation  buried  beneath  the  flood  (v.  15-18);  tells  how 
the  righteous  rejoice  in  the  retributions  sent  of  God  upon  the 
wicked  (v.  19,  20);  advises  Job  to  acquaint  himself  with  God, 
promising,  upon  this,  great  peace  and  prosperity  (v.  21-29);  and 
power  with  God  in  prayer,  to  save  even  the  guilty  (v.  30). 

1.  Then  Elipliaz  the  Tenianite  answered  and  said, 

2.  Cau  a  man  be  profitable  unto  God,  as  he  that  is  wise 
may  be  profitable  unto  himself? 

3.  is  it  any  pleasui*e  to  the  Almighty,  that  thou  art  right- 
eous ?  or  is  xt  gain  to  him,  that  thou  makest  thy  ways  perfect? 

"  Can  a  man  profit  God?  for  it  is  himself  the  wise  man  profits. 
The  Hebrew  has  nothing  •which  suggests  the  comparison  which 
appears  in  our  English  version — "as  a  wise  man  profits  himself." 
Eliphaz  means  only  this — that  no   man    profits  God;    his  piety 


124  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CIIAr,   XXII. 

profits  himself  only.  God  is  too  great  and  high,  too  independent 
of  his  creatures,  to  lie  benefited  b}^  their  piety  or  by  any  service 
they  can  render.  So  also  it  is  no  pleasure  to  him  that  his  creatures 
should  be  righteous — no  gain  though  they  be  perfect. The  bear- 
ing of  these  views  upon  the  case  in  hand  is  not  entirely  obvious. 
Perhaps  Eliphaz  would  imply  that  Job  must  think  he  was  laying 
God  under  obligation  to  him  by  his  great  piety.  Truly,  the  idea 
of  conferring  favors  upon  God  is  at  once  repulsive,  mistaken  and 
pernicious ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  say  that  Eliphaz  pre- 
sents a  cold,  repulsive  view  of  God's  feelings  toward  his  creatures. 
What!  is  he  a  Great  Father,  and  yet  has  he  no  joy  in  his  heart 
over  the  sincere  love,  reverence,  faith,  obedience,  of  his  children? 
Has  he  neither  interest  nor  pleasure  in  their  piety  and  happiness? 
If  such  were  the  doctrine  of  Eliphaz,  we  must  ascribe  it  to  the 
darkness  of  his  age,  and  can  only  wish  he  had  better  known  the 
love  for  our  lost  race  that  shines  forth  in  the  glorious  gospel. 

4.  Will  he  reprove  thee  for  fear  of  thee  ?  will  he  euter 
with  thee  into  judgment? 

5.  is  not  thy  wickedness  great?  and  thine  iniquities 
infinite  ? 

In  V.  4  the  Ileb.  Avord  for  "  fear"  may  mean  either  dread,  being 
afraid;  or  piety,  /.  e.,  the  true  fear  of  God.  The  latter  sense  is 
very  frequent  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  applies  most  appropri- 
ately here.  Eliphaz  does  not  ask  whether  God  will  reprove  Job 
because  he  is  afraid  of  him ;  for  this  would  be  very  weak  and  in- 
sipid;  but  rather  asks  whether  God  is  rebuking  him — entering 
into  judgment  with  him — because  of  his  piety.  What!  (Eliphaz 
■would  say)  can  you  be  so  void  of  sense  as  to  assume  that  your 
great  piety  has  brought  down  upon  you  these  inflictions  from  God's 
hand  ?  Do  you  not  know  that  when  God  sends  on  you  his  sore  judg- 
ments it  must  be  for  your  great  sins? — This,  we  must  remember, 
is  the  staple  doctrine  of  Eliphaz — one  that  no  point  made  in  his 

speeches  might  ever  forget. It  is  in  this  line  of  thought  that  he 

advances  to  say  next — "Is  not  thy  wickedness  great?  and  there 
is  no  end  to  thine  iniquities."  This  Eliphaz  perpetually  assumes, 
yet  more  boldly  in  this  speech  than  in  either  of  the  two  preced- 
ing— a  fact  which  naturally  comes  of  heated  personal  controversy. 
He  would  say  to  Job — It  is  very  absurd  for  you  to  assume  that 
God  is  scourging  and  crushing  you  for  your  piety,  when  it  so  mani- 
festly must  be  for  your  great  sin. 

6.  For  thou  hast  taken  a  pledge  from  thy  brother  for 
nought,  and  stripped  the  naked  of  their  clothing. 

7.  Thou  hast  not  given  water  to  the  Aveary  to  drink,  and 
thou  hast  withholden  bread  from  the  hungry. 

8.  But  as  for  the  mighty  man,  he  had  the  earth;  and  the 
honorable  man  dwelt  in  it. 

9.  Thou  hast  sent  widows  away  empty,  and  the  arms  of 
the  fatherless  have  been  broken. 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAr.  XXII.  125 

Here  Eliphaz,  no  longer  content  with  the  vague  and  general  in- 
ference that  Job  must  be  a  great  sinner,  though  no  mortal  can  see 
wherein, — advances  to  specific  charges,  and  declares  him  guilty 
of  sins  toward  his  fellow  men  of  the  sort  which,  in  oriental  society, 
were  deemed  most  heinous  and  disgraceful.  It  is  plain  that  ou 
his  part  these  were  purely  gratuitous  assumptions  for  which  he 
had  not  the  first  particle  of  proof.  All  he  knew  as  to  Job's  sin  in 
these  points  or  any  other  was  his  own  false  theological  inference 

from  Job's  great  sufferings. According    to    the   Mosaic    law, 

which  in  these  points  seems  to  have  been  fully  in  harmony  with 
oriental  ideas,  to  take  a  pledge  for  no  consideration,  to  which  he 
who  takes  it  has  no  just  claim,  was  deemed  a  mean  and  wicked 
outrage  on  the  poor  man's  rights.  To  take  the  poor  man's  garment, 
which  not  only  covered  his  nakedness  by  day  but  Avrapped  and 
protected  him  from  the  chills  of  night,  was  specially  oppressive 
and  outrageous.  So  also,  to  withhold  bread  and  water  from  the 
suffering  was  a  violation  of  the  most  sacred  rights  of  hospitality — 
nowhere  more  sacred  than  in  the  oriental  world.  And  yet  farther, 
to  give  the  land  to  the  mighty  and  the  honorable,  while  he  sent 
widows  away  empty  and  crushed  the  orphan,  was  a  crime  to  be 
held  in  detestation. 

10.  Therefore  snares  are  round  about  thee,  and  sudden 
fear  troubleth  thee ; 

11.  Or  dai-kness,  that  thou  canst  not  see;  and  abundance 
of  waters  cover  thee. 

These  great  sins  would  account  for  the  great  calamities  which 
had  fallen  upon  .Job;  nothing  else  could.  Snares  hemming  in  his 
way;  the  horrible  fear  and  dread  of  which  he  had  often  com- 
plained; darkness  through  which  he  could  see  no  light;  floods  of 
desolation  overwhelming ; — all  these  came  of  his  unprecedented 
crimes. 

12.  Is  not  God  in  the  height  of  heaven  ?  and  behold  the 
height  of  the  stars,  how  high  they  are  ! 

13.  And  thou  sayest,  Plow  doth  God  know?  can  he  judge 
through  the  dark  cloud? 

14.  Thick  clouds  are  a  covering  to  him,  that  he  seeth  not; 
and  he  walketh  in  the  circuit  of  heaven. 

We  may  well  take  v.  12  as  the  speaker's  own  view  of  God's 
lofty  position,  whence  he  can  survey  all  the  things  of  earth  and 
especially  all  the  sins  of  men  ; — and  then  commence  v.  13 — "  Yet," 
notwithstanding  this,  thou  (Job)  must  have  been  saying  in  thine 
heart — How  doth  God  know?  Can  his  eye  pierce  the  dark  chiud 
and,  through  its  darkness,  see  all  the  deeds  of  men  ?  Thick 
clouds  are  the  covering  of  his  tent.  He  occupies  himself  Avith 
walking  to  and  fro  upon  the  high  vault  of  heaven,  and  little  does 
he  see  or  know  what  man  is  doing  so  far  beneath ! — These  are  the 
views  which  Eliphaz  assumes  that  Job  must  have  had — else  he 
could  not  have  given  himself  up  to  such  outrageous  wickedness. 


126  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXII. 

15.  Hast  thou  marked  the  old  way  which  wicked  men 
have  trodden? 

16.  AVhich  were  cut  down  out  of  time,  whose  foundation 
was  overflown  with  a  flood  : 

17.  Which  said  unto  God,  Depart  from  us :  and  what  can 
the  Ahnighty  do  for  them  ? 

18.  Yet  he  filled  their  houses  with  good  things;  but  the 
counsel  of  the  wicked  is  far  from  me. 

Our  English  version  assumes  that  Eliphaz  calls  Job's  attention 
to  the  facts  of  the  deluge; — "Hast  thou  marked" — noticed — those 
events?  But  the  Hebrew  word  should  rather  have  the  sense — 
Wilt  thou  keep  on  in  that  old  way  ?  Wilt  thou  maintain  it,  persist 
in  it,  hold  it  fast?  Wilt  thou  live  over  again  their  deeds  and  their 
spirit? — In  the  same  sense,  David  uses  this  verb  (Ps.  18:  22  or  2 
Sam.  22:  22);  "For  I  have  kejit  the  way  of  the  Lord."— It  will 
be  noticed  that  under  this  construction,  Eliphaz  is  far  more  severe 
upon  Job  than  under  the  former : — for  while  it  is  very  mild  to  ask 
Job  if  he  had  taken  note  of  that  terrible  judgment,  it  is  heartless 
insult  and  abuse  to  ask  him  if  he  purposes  to  keep  on  in  their 
course — assuming  that  he  has  been  pursuing  it  with  all  its  bold 
defiance    of   the    Almighty   and    contemptuous    rejection   of  his 

claims. In  v.  16,  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  verb  for  "  cut  down," 

occurring  here  only,  must  be  determined  from  the  cognate  lan- 
guages. In  them,  the  sense — seized,  arrested,  talxen  firm  hold  of, 
is  by  fir  best  sustained.  The  meaning  of  the  verse  therefore  is — 
God  seized  hold  of  them  to  arrest  their  daring  wickedness. — 
Moreover,  the  Hebrew  is  not — "  out  of  time  " — in  the  sense — out 
of  this  world  of  time;  but  literally  this — and  [it  was]  not  time — 
was  not  according  to  the  usual  manner  of  God  as  to  time — this 
manner  being  to  give  wicked  men  a  long  protracted  space  for 
repentance.  Not  so,  but  with  what  we  are  wont  to  call  an  un- 
timely arrest — a  seizing  of  them  which  was  out  of  time.  Compare 
Eccl.  7  :  17  Avhere  we  have  the  same  words  with  only  the  addition 

"thy":    "Why  shouldest  thou  die  before  thy  time"? "Upon 

whose  foundation  was  poured  out  a  great  river  or  flood  "  ? — Who 
ivere  sai/ing  unto  God — the  present  participle  [Heb.]  denoting  the 
present  tense  more  definitely  than  any  other  form  of  the  verb. 
The  speaker  implies  that  they  were  then  saying  this  :  that  while 
these  words  were  in  their  mouths  the  terrible  judgment  fell  on 
them.  Our  Lord  gives  the  same  view  (Luke  17:  26,  27):  "As  it 
was  in  the  days  of  Noe,  so  shall  it  be  also  in  the  days  of  the  Son 
of  man.  They  did  eat,  they  drank,  they  married  wives,  they 
were  given  in  marriage  until  the  day  that  Noah  entered  into  the 
ark,  and  the  flood  came,  and  destroyed  them  all." — "What  can  the 
Almighty  do  for  them,"  i.  e.,  for  Noah  and  his  family?  The  old 
patriarch  (they  would  say)  has  a  notion  that  a  great  flood  is  com- 
ing and  that  if  he  trusts  in  his  God  and  follows  his  direction  as  to 
preparing  an  ark,  God  will  carry  him  safely  through — which  in 


THE    BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXII.  127 

their  eyes  doubtless  seemed  quite  absurd  and  perhaps  ridiculous. 
Hence  "What  can  the  Almighty  do  for  them"?  Avell  expressed 

their  feelings. It  made  their  sin  inexpressibly  vile  and  mean 

that  God  had  long  been  filling  their  houses  with  good.  They  had 
waxed  fat  upon  his  bounties  and  had  grown  proud,  hardened,  and 

lost  to  all  gratitude. At  this  point  EHphaz  interposes  the  same 

words  which  Job  had  used  (21  :  16)  and  in  the  same  sense  :  I  too 
as  truly  as  yourself  abhor  the  counsels  of  the  Avicked ;  I  detest  their 
spirit;  my  soul  recoils  from  their  counsels,  and  shudders  in 
view  of  their  doom  !  EHphaz  would  no  doubt  imply  and  probably 
he  meant — 1  can  say  this  much  more  truthfully  than  you. 

19.  The  rigliteons  see  if,  and  are  glad  :  and  the  innocent 
laugli  them  to  scorn. 

20.  Whereas  our  substance  is  not  cut  down,  but  the  rem- 
nant of  them  the  fire  consumeth. 

The  righteous  sec  these  judgments  on  the  wicked,  and  rejoice. 
The  innocent  retaliate  the  scorn  which  the  ungodly  had  previously 
heaped  on  them. The  common  version  of  v.  20  is  quite  un- 
meaning in  this  connection.  It  also  fails  to  give  the  sense  of  the 
Hebrew  words.  Better  thus:  "Most  assuredly  our  adversary  is 
cut  down"  [made  to  despair],  "and  what  remains  of  them,  fire 
consumes."  This  is  what  the  righteous  say  of  their  wicked  haters 
and  persecutors. — The  strong  affirmation  in  the  first  words  of  the 
verse  is  made  by  a  peculiar  Hebrew  idiom; — "If  not" — i.  e.,  if 
this  be  not  true,  nothing  is  true.  V.  20  carries  on  and  fills  out 
the  thought  in  v.  19. 

21.  Acquaint  now  thyself  with  him,  and  be  at  peace  : 
thereby  good  shall  come  unto  thee. 

22.  Receive,  I  pray  thee,  the  law  from  his  mouth,  and  lay 
up  his  words  in  thine  heart. 

In  itself  this  advice  is  most  excellent ;  but  as  said  to  Job,  imply- 
ing that  he  had  never  made  the  acquaintance  of  God — had  never 
either  taken  God's  law  to  his  heart,  or  obeyed  it  in  spirit — was  a 
grievous  violation  of  Christian  charity  and  most  unreasonably 
severe.  Considered  as  said  to  men  who  had  never  known  God, 
no  counsel  could  be  better.  To  know  God,  with  knowledge 
amounting  to  real  acquaintance,  and  then  to  take  the  law  of  one's 
own  life  from  his  lips  and  treasure  his  words  in  the  heart,  is 
indeed  man's  supi'erae  -wisdom.  No  words  can  overstate  the  bless- 
edness of  such  relationship  to  the  Infinite  Father. 

23.  If  thou  return  to  the  Almighty,  thou  shalt  be  built 
up,  thou  shalt  put  iniquity  far  from  thy  tabernacles. 

24.  Then  shalt  thou  lay  up  gold  as  dust,  and  the  gold  of 
Ophir  as  the  stones  of  the  brooks. 

25.  Yea,  the  Almighty  shall  be  thy  defense,  and  thou 
shalt  have  plenty  of  silver.' 


128  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXII. 

This  passage,  exceedingly  beautiful  ■when  rightly  understood, 
needs  to  have  its  translation  improved  in  two  important  respects. 

(a)  The  first  clause  of  v.  24  should  read — not  "  lay  up  gold  as 
dust" — but  "  cast  forth  gold  vjjon  the  dust" — throw  it  away  upon 
the  ground;  and  "  Ophir"  *■ — i.  e.,  its  gold — cast  thou  to  the  stones 
of  the  brook.  This  is  unquestionably  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew 
Avords,  for  the  verb  signifies  to  lay  or  cast  doicn — not  to  lay  up  as 
a  safe  deposit.     The  next  Avords  mean — vpo7i  the  dust  or  ground 

— not  as,  which  this  preposition  never  signifies. Then  in  v.  25, 

we  have  the  same  word  for  "gold"  as  in  v.  24;  but  here,  unac- 
countably, our  translators  rendered  it,  not  gold  but  "  defense." 
We  must  correct  this,  and  read  verse  25 :  "  For  the  Almighty  will 
be  thy  gold,  and  silver  for  thee  " — of  which  the  Hebrew  says — 
not  "plenty,"  but  that  for  which  men  toil  severely;  the  silver  for 
which  men  labor  so  hard,  thy  God  will  himself  be   to  thee. 

(b)  The  second  change  to  be  made  in  the  translation  of  this 
passage  is  to  continue  the  condition  {i.  e.,  the  power  of  the  word 
"if") — throughout  vs.  23  and  24  thus: — "//"thou  return  to  the 
Almighty  ;  and  if  thou  put  iniquity  far  away  from  thy  heart;  and 
ij'  thou  shalt  cast  gold  away  upon  the  ground,  and  Ophir  [its 
gold]  to  the  stones  of  the  brook; — then  the  Almighty  will  be  thy 
gold,  and  Avill  be  silver  to  thee" — the  silver  for  which  men  toil 
severely. This  it  will  be  seen  makes  Eliphaz  talk  more  sensi- 
bly than  our  English  version  does  as  to  hoarding  gold  and  silver. 
How  much  better  to  have  God  our  chief  possession — our  supreme 
treasure — than  the  gold  of  Ophir  ! 

26.'  For  then  shalt  thou  have  thy  delight  in  the  Almighty, 
and  shalt  lift  up  thy  face  vuito  God. 

27.  Thou  shalt  make  thy  prayer  unto  him,  and  he  shall 
hear  thee,  and  thou  shalt  pay  thy  vows. 

These  conditions  being  fulfilled,  thou  shalt  delight  tlnjself  (re- 
ciprocal verb)  in  the  Almighty ;  shalt  lift  up  thy  face,  not  proudly 
but  in  peaceful  trust,  toward  (or  unto)  God.  Acceptable  prayer 
will  be  one  of  thy  chief  blessings — above  all  price  to  frail  mortals. 

To  "perform  one's  vows"  implied  that  the  blessing  sought, 

to  which  the  vow  stood  related,  had  been  found.  So  the  Psalmist: 
"I  will  pay  thee  my  vows  which  my  lips  have  uttered  and  my 
mouth  hath  spoken  when  1  was  in  trouble  "  (Ps.  66 :   13,  14). 

28.  Thou  shalt  also  decree  a  thing ;  and  it  shall  be  estab- 
lished unto  thee :  and  the  light  shall  shine  upon  thy  ways. 

29.  When  men  are  cast  down,  then  thou  shalt  say,  There 
is  lifting  up;  and  he  shall  save  the  humble  person. 

*  The  name  "  Ophir  "  became  so  associated  with  gold  that  the 
geographical  name  itself  is  used  for  gold.  Compare  Job  28:  16  and 
1  Kings  9 :  28  and  10 :  15,  22  and  1  Chron.  29 :  4  and  I's.  45:  9 
and  Isa.  13 :  12. 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. — CIIAr.  XXII.  129 

"Shalt  decree  a  thing" — in  moclei'ii  phrase — purpose  or  decide 
to  do  a  thing.     The  verb  suggests  that  the  man  cuttt  off  further 

inquiry  and  dehate,  as  the  English  word  decide  also  signifies. 

"And  light  shall  shine" — better  than  "  the  light,"  for  no  particu- 
lar light  is  thought  of. 

V.  29  presents  rather  special  difficulties.  Critics  suggest  vari- 
ous constructions.  The  verb  for  "  are  cast  down,"  has  no  subject 
expressed,  "men"  not  being  in  the  Hebrew  at  all.  Some  construe 
the  passage — When  thy  ways  ("ways"  being  brought  forward 
from  the  previous  verse)  are  depressed,  thou  shalt  say — "  exalta- 
tion," [soon].  In  a  spirit  hopeful  and  trustful,  thou  wilt  look  for 
speedy  uplifting   again,  for  God  will  save  those  of  humble  look, 

as  opposed  to   men  of  proud  look. Others — When  proud  and 

violent  men  (none  others  would  do  it)  crush  thee  down  and  thou 
sayest — Oh,  the  insolence!    then  God  Avill  save  the  humble,  and 

thee  also,  since  thou  art  such. The  chief  objection  to  this  is 

that  it  takes  too  much  upon  supposition  which  is  not  definitely  in- 
dicated in  the  words  of  the  passage. Others  say — When  men 

humble  themselves,  thou  dost  command  exaltation,  for  God  saves, 
etc.  But  this  as  said  by  Eliphaz  to  Job,  assumes  Job  to  be  again 
in  power,  wielding  extensive  influence — a  very  improbable  sup- 
position for  this  speech.  The  first  named  construction  seems  open 
to  fewer  objections  than  any  other. 

30.  He  shall  deliver  the  Maud  of  the  innocent:  and  it  is 
delivered  by  the  pureness  of  thy  hands. 

The  sense  "island"  is  entirely  foreign  from  the  scope  of 
thought,  and  is  not  by  any  means  demanded  Ijy  the  original. 
The  word  is  manifestly  a  negative.  Prefixed  to  an  adjective,  as 
here  to  the  word  "  innocent,"  it  means — the  not  innocent — i.  e., 
the  guilty.  Though  of  rare  occurrence  in  Hebrew,  the  authority 
of  cognate  languages  and  of  later  Rabbinic    usage   seems  quite 

sufficient  to  establish  this  sense. Upon  this  construction,  the 

sense  is  easy  and  plain:  Thy  pure  hands,  uplifted  in  prayer,  shall 
avail  to  save  the  not-innocent — i.  e.,  the  guilty.  "  Lifting  up  holy 
hands,"  thy  praj^er  for  even  bad  men  shall  be  heard  before  God. 

These  are  the  last  recorded  words  of  Eliphaz. In  point  of 

literary  merit  this  last  speech  is  well  enough  ;  its  logic  is  not  bad 
if  only  its  premises  were  true  and  worthily  assumed ;  but  its 
spirit,  its  moral  tone,  is  bad  ;  its  assumptions  as  to  Job  were  un- 
authorized and  cruel.  We  need  not  wonder  that  in  the  final  result 
the  Lord  rebuked  him  as  well  as  his  associates,  and  humbled 
them  to  ask  their  much-abused  friend  to  go  to  God  in  prayer  on 
their  behalf. 


130  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.   XXIII. 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Job's  Reply  to  the  last  Speech  of  ElipJiaz. 

Deeply  pained  by  the  severe  implications  of  his  professed 
friends,  Job  replies  that  his  complaints  are  not  duly  appreciated  ; 
that  his  sufferings  surpass  his  groans  (v.  2)  ;  O  might  he  but  carry 
his  case  up  from  man's  hearing  to  God's  !  (v.  3,  4).  He  knows 
that  God  would  give  him  a  more  kind  hearing  (v.  5,  6),  and  a 
more  righteous  decision  (v.  7) ;  but  alas  !  turn  which  way  he  may, 
he  finds  him  not  (v.  8,  9) ;  yet  God  surely  knows  all  his  life-path 
(v.  10)  ;  and  that  he  has  held  fast  to  the  word  and  to  the  prescribed 
law  of  his  God  (v.  11,  12) ;  but  God  is  changeless  and  does  all  his 
pleasure  (v.  13,  14) :  therefore  Job  is  the  more  afraid  and  troubled 
(v.  15-17). 

1.  Then  Job  answered  and  said, 

2.  Even  to-day  is  my  complaint  bitter :  my  stroke  is 
heavier  than  my  groaning. 

The  precise  sense  of  the  word  rendered  "bitter"*  is  given  va- 
riously by  the  best  authorities.  Conant — "  froioardness" — i.  e,, 
my  complaint  is  so  regarded  by  my  opponents  :  Fuerst  says — 
'harshness,  violence" — meaning — This  is  what  I  complain  of: 
while  Gesenius  favors  the  sense  "  outcry '^ — my  complaint  is  an 
outcry  against  abuse  and  wrong.  The  sense  given  by  Conant 
seems  to  me  most  in  harmony  with  Job's  probable  feelings.  My 
complaint  is  deemed  utterly  unreasonable,  a  sin  and  a  shame — 
which  would  be  a  reproach  very  hard  for  such  a  sufferer  to  bear. 

To  this  in  self-justification  Job  replies: — "  My  stroke  "  (that 

which  falls  upon  me)  "  is  heavier  than  my  groaning." For  the 

word  "  stroke,"  the  Hebrew  has  its  usual  word  for  hand,-\  but 
certainly  in  the  sense — the  hand  that  smites  or  falls  upon  me. 
My  complaint  is  far  below  the  severity  of  these  inflictions.  So 
far  from  complaining  to  excess,  my  sufferings  are  far  in  excess  of 
my  groans. 

3.  Oh  that  I  knew  where  I  miglit  find  liim !  that  I  might 
come  even  to  his  seat ! 

4.  I  would  order  my  cause  before  him,  and  fill  my  mouth 
with  arguments. 

5.  I  would  know  the  words  which  he  would  answer  me,  and 
understand  what  he  would  say  unto  me. 

6.  Will  he  plead  against  me  with  his  great  power?  No ; 
but  he  would  put  strength  in  me. 

No  special  emphasis  should  be  laid  on  the  word  "  where"  as  to 


THE  BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXIII.  131 

tlic  place  in  which  God  mi'riht  be  found.  Conant  translates 
"  Iwio  \  mijiht"  etc.,  but  the  Hebrew  says  only  this  : — "O  that  I 
knew  and  that  I  might  find  " — /.  e.,  that  I  knew  enough  as  to 
both  the  place  where  and  the  manner  how,  that  I  might  success- 
fully seek  and  really  find. The  original  favors  the  dependence 

of  all  the  clauses  to  the  end  of  v.  6  upon  this  outcry  of  strong 
desire — "  O  that !"  Thus — O  that  I  knew  and  might  find  him  ; 
O  that  I  might  come  even  to  his  scat — that  I  might  lay  out  my 
case  in  order  before  him  and  might  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments  ! 

0  that  I  might  know  the  words  he  would  answer  me,  and  under- 
stand what  he  would  say  to  me! — Then  (v.  6) — With  his  great 
power  would  he  plead  with  me  ?  No !  he  surely  would  give  heed 
to  me,  or  more  literalh^ — set  [his  thought]  upon  me.  The  usage 
of  this  verb  in  Job  4  :  20,  without  an  object  after  it,  but  certainly 
implying  the  sense — mind  or  thought — justifies  this  construction 
here.  In  that  passage — "  They  perish  forever  without  any  re- 
garding it "  we  have  only  the  same  verb  as  here — without  any 
one  putting  or  setting — and  must'  supply — Ms  mind,  to  it.  So 
here:  No;  God  would  give  his  mind  and  thought  to  my  prayer. 
This  was  Job's  confidence  and  consolation. 

7.  There  the  righteous  might  dispute  with  him  :  sosliould 

1  1)6  dehvered  for  ever  from  my  judge. 

"  Dispute,"  not  in  the  bad  sense,  implying  boldness,  much  less 
impudence  or  dogmatism  ;  but  only  to  reason  rciih  him.  The 
Heb.  word  in  this  book  is  commonly  translated — to  reason  loith. 

The  last  clause  raises  the  question — From  what  "judge"? 

The  Almighty  and  Supreme  ;  or  these  human  self  appointed  judges 
whose  judgment  of  his  case  had  borne  upon  him  with  such  savage 
severity  ?  The  latter  unquestionably.  If  he  could  get  a  hearing 
before  the  Most  High,  he  would  care  little  for  what  Eliphaz  or 
Bildad  or  Zophar  might  think  or  say  of  his  case. 

8.  Behold,  I  go  forward,  but  he  is  not  there;  and  back- 
ward, but  I  can  not  perceive  him  ; 

9.  On  the  left  hand,  where  he  doth  work,  but  I  can  not 
behold  him:  he  hideth  himself  on  the  right  hand,  that  I 
can  not  see  him: 

10.  But  he  knoweth  the  way  that  I  take  :  u'hen  he  hath 
tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold. 

Returning  to  speak  again  of  his  search  after  God,  he  says — I 
go  in  every  direction — toward  every  point  of  the  compass,  but 
find  him  not:  forward — i.  e.,  toward  the  East,  then  backward,  to 
the  West;  then  on  the  left  hand,  i.  e.,  to  the  North  where  men 
see  most  grand  and  brilliant  displays  of  his  glory  in  the  aurora 
borealis  and  in  the  great  constellations  of  the  heavens ;  then  to 
the  South  where  in  its  dai-k  chambers  he  doth  hide  himself — that 
quarter  of  the  heavens  being  little  seen  or  known — but  all  this 
search  is  vain. This  description  suggests  by  contrast  that  of 


132  THE   BOOK    OP   JOB. — CHAP.    XXJII. 

the  Psalmist  (139  :  7-12) — "  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  Thou  art 
there ;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  Hades,  lo.  Thou  art  there ;  if  I  take 
the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
sea,  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me  and  thy  right  hand  shall 
hold  me."  But  alas  !  nowhere  in  the  universe  does  Job  find  that 
sensible  presence  of  God  which  his  aching  heart  longs  for.  Yet, 
he  adds,  God  knoweth  the  way  I  take — knoweth  all  the  life  I  live 
and  all  my  griefs  and  woes.  When  he  hath  tried  me,  I  shall  come 
forth  as  gold  from  the  furnace.  This  is  one  of  those  utterances 
of  his  heart-confidence  which  no  severity  of  trial,  no  i-acking  tor- 
ture of  reproach  from  friends ;  none  of  those  perplexities  which 
sometimes  drive  him  almost  to  despair,  could  utterly  e^^pel  from 
his  soul.  Apparently  such  expressions  of  deep  and  precious 
trust  in  God  were  more  free  and  full  after  that  glorious  triumph 
of  his  faith  Avhich  we  saw  in  the  close  of  chap.  19  ; — "  I  know 
that  my  Kedeemer  liveth." 

11.  j\fy  foot  hath  held  his  steps,  his  way  have  I  kept,  and 
not  declined. 

12.  Neither  have  I  gone  back  from  the  commandment  of 
his  lips;  I  have  esteemed  the  words  of  his  mouth  more  than 
my  necessary /oocL 

Here  Job  expresses  his  deep  consciousness  of  integrity  toward 
God  in  an  honest,  sincere  purpose  of  obedience.  All  along  in  his 
debate  with  his  friends  he  had  maintained  this,  and  had  felt  it 

deep  in  his  soul,  to  his  great  consolation. In  the  last  clause 

of  V.  12,  the  word  "  food  "  which  the  translators  supplied  without 
Heb.  authority,  is  not  the  right  one.  The  Hebrew  *  is  constantly 
used  in  the  sense  of  what  is  enjoined,  imposed  or  ordained  as  law, 
precept.  Hence  the  better  sense  is — I  have  treasured  up  the 
words  of  his  mouth  more  than  my  own  law  or  purpose.  Above 
the  demands  of  my  own  will,  I  have  kept  and  prized  the  will  of 

my  God.     His  ivill  above  mine  has  been  the  law  of  my  life. 

Glorious  testimony  to  the  right  and  the  only  right  attitude  of  the 
human  will  to  the  divine ! 

13.  But  he  is  in  one  mind,  and  who  can  turn  him  ?  and 
what  his  soul  desireth,  even  that  he  doeth. 

14.  For  he  performeth  the  thing  that  is  appointed  for  me : 
and  many  such  things  are  with  him. 

The  immutability  of  God  is  the  thought  here,  coupled  with  the 
certain  accomplishment  of  all  He  wills  to  do. — The  practical  bear- 
ing of  this  doctrine  concerning  God  upon  the  then  present  con- 
dition and  hopes  of  Job  seems  to  have  been  discouraging — as  we 
shall  see. 

15.  Therefore  am  I  troubled  at  his  presence :  when  I  con- 
sider, I  am  afraid  of  him. 


THE  BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXIV.  133 

16.  For  God  maketh  my  lieavt  soft,  and  tlie  Alniiglity 
troul)leth  me  : 

17.  Because  I  Avas  not  cut  off  befcn-e  tlie  darkness,  neither 
hath  he  covered  the  darkness  from  my  face. 

"Therefore" — i.  e.,  because  God  is  so  changeless  in  his  pur- 
poses and  will  so  surely  accomplish  tliem  all — therefore  am  I 
troubled.  For,  as  to  his  ways  with  me,  1  must  judge  of  the  future 
iVoni  the  past.    How  can  I  hope  to  work  any  change  iu  his  purposes 

or  in  his  course  of  dealing  with  me? "God  maketh  my  heart 

soj't  " — weak,  powerless — not  tender  in  the  moral  sense  of  being 
penitently  submissive,  but  void  of  firmness  and  endurance — hopeful 

courage  and  faith  failing  me. V.  17  has  difBculties.    The  English 

version  quite  fails  to  give  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew.  Better  thus  : 
"For  I  have  not  been  cut  off — i.  e.,  broken  down  in  heart  and 
hope — before  mere  darfcness — these  external  calamities  ;  nor  be- 
cause he  hath  spread  darkness  over  my  face.  A  deeper  reason 
than  this  for  the  prostration  of  my  spirit  and  hopes  is  at  the  root — 
viz.,  the  apparent  wrath  of  God  against  me. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Job  concludes  his  speech. 

This  chapter  has  great  unity  of  argument  throughout.  It  makes 
but  one  main  point,  viz.,  to  show  that  there  are  oppressors — out- 
rageously wicked  men  in  the  world  who  live  to  the  usual  limit  of 
human  life  in  prosperity,  and  meet  no  such  fearful  judgments 
from  the  Almighty  as  they  deserve,  nor  such  as  on  your  theory 
(he  would  say  to  his  opponents)  they  ought  to  have.  The  whole 
chapter  is  devoted  to  the  description  of  these  wicked  men  and  of 
the  poor  victims  of  their  oppression.  The  chief  difficulty  for  the 
reader  to  overcome  is  to  distinguish  the  descriptive  points  which 
apply  to  the  oppressor  from  those  which  describe  his  oppressed 
victim. 

1.  Why,  seeing  times  are  not  hidden  from  the  Almighty, 
do  they  that  know  him  not  see  his  days? 

This  somewhat  obscure  verse  gives  the  key  to  the  entire  chapter, 

and  should  therefore  be  carefully  considered. "  Times  "  and 

"days"  must  here  be  essentially  synonymous — both  indicating 
special  periods  of  God's  visitations  of  retributive  judgments  upon 
the  wicked  for  their  sins.  The  scriptural  usage  of  these  words 
may  be  readily  seen:  that  of  the  word  "time"  iu  Isa.  13:  22, 
"  Her  time  is  near  to  come  and  her  days  shall  not  be  prolonged  :  " 
Jer.  27 :  7,    "  Until  the  very  time  of  his  land  come  :  "    Ezek.  22 :  3, 


134  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.   XXIV. 

"The  city  slicddeth  ))l(»i(l  in  the  midst  of  it  that  her  time  may 
come:  " — Ezek.  80:  3,  "For  the  day  is  near,  even  the  day  of  the 

Lord  is  near:  it  shall  be  the  time  of  the  heathen." For  the 

word  "day"  see  Isa.  13:  6,  "The  day  of  Jehovah  is  at  hand;  it 
shall  be  as  a  destruction  from  the  Almighty:''  Isa.  2:  12,  "For 
the  day  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall  be  upon  every  one  that  is  proud," 
etc.;  Joel  2:  1,  "Let  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  tremble,  for 
the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh"  :  Zeph.  1  :  7,  "Hold  thy  peace,  for 
the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand,"  etc.;  Zech.  14:  1,  etc. 

But  what  can  be  meant  by  these  times  being  "hidden  from  the 
Almighty?"  It  is  simply  inept  and  insupposable  that  God's  own 
times  should  be  unknown  to  himself  or  concealed  from  himself. 
— Moreover,  the  argument  as  put  in  our  English  version  is  too 
weak  to  bear  any  weight.  If  God  knows  his  own  times,  then  they 
that  know  Him  ought  to  see  them  also.  Can  we  infer  that  his 
creatures  must  know  all  that  he  knows  ?     We  must  look  deeper 

into  this  passage,  for  there  must  be  in  it  some  better  logic. 1 

suggest  this :  If  there  is  no  concealment  on  the  part  of  God  as  to 
his  times  of  retribution  on  tlie  wicked — if  He  makes  no  effort  to 
conceal,  but  on  the  contrary,  makes  these  times  of  retribution  open 
and  palpable,  then  why  should  not  those  who  know  him  discern 
these  days — these  times  of  retribution  ?  This  is  sensible  reason- 
ing and  wholly  in  accord  with  facts.  It  also  meets  the  require- 
ments of  the  Hebrew  words. The  force  of  the  first  word —  Why? 

bears  upon  the  last  clause; — Why  do  not  God's  knowing  ones — 
(those  who  know  him) — see  his  days  of  judgment,  there  being  no 
concealment  on  his  part  as  to  these  "  times "  ?  Inasmuch  as 
nothing  emanating  from  the  Almighty  serves  to  conceal  but  every 
thing  to  disclose,  why  shall  not  all  who  know  God,  in  any  just 
sense,  see  these  open  doings  of  God  toward  the  wicked  ?  The 
original  I  understand  to  signify,  not  that  the  knowledge  of  his 
own  time  is  not  concealed  from  the  Almighty,  but  that  no  con- 
cealment of  his  times  proceeds  from  him.  He  takes  no  pains, 
makes  no  effort,  to  conceal  or  hide  them. 

2.  Soine  remove  the  landmarks ;  they  violently  take  away 
flocks,  and  feed  thereof. 

3.  They  drive  away  the  ass  of  the  fatherless,  they  take 
the  widow's  ox  for  a  pledge. 

Here  Job  begins  his  description  of  notoriously  wicked  men. 

To  remove  landmarks  was  bold  iniquity  which  no  right-thinking 
men  could  ever  justify.  See  the  Mosaic  law  on  this  point,  Deut. 
27:  17  and  19:  14  and  Prov.  22:  28  and  23:  10  and  Hos.  5:  10. 
— ■ — ^This  law  must  have  had  special  application  in  Egj^pt,  Avhere 
land  was  so  valuable  and  the  boundaries  between  one  man's  land 
and  another's  were  fixed,  not  at  all  by  fences,  but  only  by  landmarks. 
Hence  the  crime  was  the  greater  because  more  easily  committed 
and  with  more  difficulty  detected.  It  became  more  vital  to  society 
to  maintain  the  sacredness  of  the  law. They  seize  the  cattle 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXIV.  135 

[Heb.]  of  other  men  and  feed  them  as  iheir  own — not  Hn  the 
English  version  might  be  understood  to  mean — and  also  iheir 
fodder.  This  crime  also  -was  committed  with  comparative  ease,  and 
therefore    the   greater  odium  attached  to    it,  and  the  sacrcdness 

of  the   law  became   more  vital  to  the  well-being  of  society. 

The  crime  is  still  more  enhanced  in  malignity  when  perpetrated 
upon  orphans  and  Avidows — less  able  to  bear  the  loss  and  having 
less  power  of  prevention  or  redress. 

4.  They  turn  the  needy  out  of  the  way;  the  poor  of  the 
earth  hide  themselves  together. 

5.  Behold,  as  wild  asses  in  the  desert,  go  they  forth  to 
their  work  ;  rising  betimes  for  a  prey  :  the  wilderness  yieldeth 
food  for  them  and  for  their  children. 

6.  They  reap  every  one  his  corn  in  the  field :  and  they 
gather  the  vintage  of  the  wicked. 

7.  They  cause  the  naked  to  lodge  without  clothing,  that 
they  have  no  covering  in  the  cold. 

8.  They  are  wet  with  the  showers  of  the  mountains,  and 
embrace  the  rock  for  Avant  of  a  shelter. 

The  sense  of  the  words — "  Turn  the  needy  out  of  the  way,"  i.  e., 
out  of  iheir  way  where  it  is  their  right  to  walk — may  be  seen  in 

Amos  2:  7  and  5:  12;  Isa.  29:  21  and  Prov.lS:  5,  etc.,  etc. 

All  the  oppressed  of  the  land  are  made  to  hide  themselves — not 
necessarily  "  together  "  as  the  English  version  would  suggest,  but 
the  speaker  means  that  this  is  their  common  experience — a  uni- 
versal thing.  To  escape  these  giant  oppressors,  all  the  poor  are 
compelled  to  hide  themselves. 

The  reader  should  notice  carefully  that  vs.  4-12  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  V.  9)  are  occupied  in  describing,  not  the  oppressor 
directly,  but  those  whom  he  oppresses.    Job  tells  us  how  the  violence 

of  their  oppressors  compelled  them  to  live. In  v.  5,  these  poor 

people,  driven  off  into  desert  regions,  are  compared  to  wild  asses 
— alike  in  roaming  the  desert  and  searching  after  food  for  them- 
selves   and  their  children. In  v.  6  they  are  supposed   to  be 

employed  in  labor  for  their  oppressors,  reaping  his  fodder,  glean- 
ing his  vineyard.  Naked,  they  pass  the  night  without  clothing, 
too  poor  to  be  comfortably  clad.  The  outer  garment  for  the  day 
was  the  usual  covering  for  the  chilly  night — most  needed  then. 
No  protection  against  the  mountain  showers — the  storms  that 
came  chilly  and  cold  from  the  mountain  regions.  "Embracing 
the  rock  for  a  shelter,"  indicates  that  they  had  no  protection  save 
to  nestle  close  to  the  rock  which  might  sometimes  break  the  force 
of  the  wind,  or  screen  from  the  pelting  storm. 

9.  They  pluck  the  fivtherless  from  the  breast,  and  take  a 
pledge  of  the  poor. 


136  THE  BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.   XXIV. 

This  verse,  interposed  here  somewhat  aside  from  the  general 
drift  of  the  connection,  manifestly  describes  what  is  done  by  the 
opjiressors.  They  tear  orphan  babes  from  the  breast  and  take  the 
pledge  from  the  poor — the  first  step  toward  grasping  and  holding 
his  last  comfort. 

10.  They  cause  him  to  go  naked  without  clothing,  and  they 
take  away  the  sheaf  from  the  hungry ; 

11.  Which  make  oil  within  their  walls,  and  ti'ead  their 
wine-presses,  and  sutler  thirst. 

The  course  of  these  verses  throughout  is  more  easy  if  taken  as 
describing  directly  the  labors  and  privations  of  the  oppressed 
rather  than  the  doings  of  their  oppressors — thus  : — They  walk 
about  naked  without  covering;  they  bear  sheaves  [of  corn]  yet 
are  hungry  (not  being  allowed  to  relieve  their  hunger  from  the 
sheaves  they  bear) ;  they  make  oil  within  their  walls  and  tread 
the  wine-press,  yet  suffer  thirst — this  being  the  aggravation  of 
their  suffering,  that  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  wine  flowing  forth 
from  under  their  feet,  they  are  not  permitted  to  taste  ;  bearing 
corn-sheaves  they  must  not  eat — all  in  violation  of  that  humane 
law:  "  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn" 
(Deut.  25:  4). 

12.  ]Men  groan  from  out  of  the  city,  and  the  soul  of  the 
wounded  crieth  out:  yet  God  layetli  not  folly  to  them. 

Accepting  the  text  as  it  stands  and  the  words  in  their  usual 
sense,  the  verse  suddenly  transfers  the  scene  of  the  oppressor's 
devastations  from  country  to  city ;  and  we  may  translate  : — From 
out  the  city  men  groan  and  the  soul  of  the  wounded  cries  out 
aloud ;  but  God   [apparently]    gives  no  heed  to  the  wickedness. 

The  last  vei'b  is  often  used  in  this  Book  of  Job  with  the  noun 

for  heart  or  thought  to  be  supplied  after  it,  the  cases  being  suf- 
ficiently numerous  to  establish  a  settled  usage.  See  23  :  6  and 
21:  23  and  37:  15. In  this  view  of  the  verse  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  the  fact  referred  to  is  in  full  harmony  with  the  drift 
of  Job's  argument,  showing  that  in  the  present  world  God  does 
often  suffer  outrageous  crime  to  pass  on  unpunished. 

The  verb  signifying  to  put,  2}liice,  we  have  had  repeatedly  with 
mind  understood,  in  the  sense — putting  his  mind  upon  it ;  giving 
heed  to  it.  The  sentiment  here  is  that  God  seems  not  to  hear  these 
outcries  of  helpless  men,  dying  under  the  violence  of  their 
oppressors.  This  fact  not  only  makes  strongly  against,  but  utterly 
disproves,  the  doctrine  of  an  immediate  and  perfect  retribution 
upon  outrageous  wickedness  in  the  present  world. 

13.  They  are  of  those  that  rebel  against  the  light ;  they 
know  not  the  ways  thereof,  nor  abide  in  the  paths  thereof. 

14.  The  murderer  rising  with  the  light  killeth  the  poor 
and  needy,  and  in  the  night  is  as  a  thief. 


THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XXIV,  137 

15.  The  eye  also  of  the  adulterer  waitetli  for  the  twilight, 
saying,  No  eye  shall  see  me :  and  disguiseth  his  face. 

16.  In  the  dark  they  dig  through  houses,  ivhich  they  had 
marked  for  themselves  in  the  day-time:  they  know  not  the 
light. 

17.  For  the  morning  is  to  them  even  as  the  shadow  of 
death:  if  one  know  them,  they  are  in  the  terrors  of  the 
shadow  of  death. 

Here  is  the  oppressor  himself — a  murderer,  a  highway  robber, 
a  burglar,  or  an  adulterer — every-where  loving  darkness  and 
hating  light — hating  it  as  unendurable — the  light  of  morning 
being  to  him  more  dreadful   than  the  terrors   of  the   shadow  of 

death. "They  dig  through  houses" — conceives  of  the  houses 

as  mud-cabins,  built  of  earth. In  v.  14,  "rising  with  the  light," 

means  at  the  earliest  dawn. The  points  of  this  description  are 

too  clear  to  need  exi^lanation. 

18.  He  is  swift  as  the  waters;  their  portion  is  cur.^ed  in 
the  earth :  he  beholdeth  not  the  Avay  of  the  vineyards. 

In  Hebrew — "light  is  he"  (a  light  thing)  like  the  papyrus 
skiffs  on  the  Nile — on  the  face  of  the  waters — descriptive  of  rapid 
motion,  a  quality  essential  to  success  in  the  crimes  here  referred 
to. "  Accursed  is  their  portion  in  the  earth  " — only  to  be  ex- 
ecrated are  the  men,  their  profession  and  their  plunder.  The 
original  gives  a  very  noticeable  paranomasia  between  the  first 
word  of  the  verse  translated  "swift"  and  the  verb  in  the  second 
clause  for  "cursed."  No  translation  can  reproduce  this  to  pur- 
pose.  The  last  clause  should  read:   "He   turneth   not   to  the 

way  of  vineyards"  which  I  take  to  mean — He  carefully  avoids 
highly  cultivated  districts;  finds  his  best  success  in  regions  remote 
from  dense  populations  ;  he  abhors  civilization  ! 

19.  Drought  and  heat  consume  the  snow  waters :  so  doth 
the  grave  those  which  have  sinned. 

20.  The  womb  shall  forget  him;  the  worm  shall  feed 
sweetly  on  him ;  he  shall  be  no  mox'e  remembered ;  and 
wickedness  shall  be  broken  as  a  tree. 

Dreaded  of  men  are  they — a  curse  to  society.  It  is  a  comfort  to 
say  that  as  drought  and  heat  drink  up  the  Avaters  that  come  from 
the  hills  of  melting  snow,  so  does  the  under-world,  (Slieol)  these 
desperate  sinners. — Even  the  mothers  that  bear  them  are  glad  to 
forget  them.  Let  the  worms  of  the  grave  feed  sweetly  on  them, 
for  their  flesh  can  turn  to  no  better  use.  They  have  done  noth- 
ing to  entitle  them  to  grateful  remembrance  among  the  living. 
Such  wicked  men  are  broken  down  like  the  tree  Avhich  falls, 
never  to  rise  again.  '  Thus  a  sort  of  retribution  follows  them  to 
their  graves — as  if  glad  to  have  its  opportunity  at  last;  but  (Job 
plainly  intimates)  this  retribution  has  been  under  restraint  through 
1 


138  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXIV. 

all  their  life.  In  iJiis  loorld,  they  never  receive  their  just  deserts. 
This  is  one  of  the  main  points  of  his  argument. 

21.  He  evil  entreatetli  the  barren  that  beareth  not:  and 
doeth  not  good  to  the  widow. 

22.  He  draweth  also  the  mighty  with  his  power ;  he  risetb 
up,  and  no  man  is  sure  of  life. 

23.  Though  it  be  given  him  to  he  in  safety,  whereon  be 
resteth ;  yet  his  eyes  are  upon  their  ways. 

Again  the  speaker  returns  to  his  description  of  the  wicked  op- 
pressor, touching  briefly  some  salient  points. 

In  V.  21  the  first  verb  should  be  taken  from  a  root  not  appar- 
ently noticed  by  the  English  translators,  meaning — lie  feedeth 
doivn,  in  the  sense  of  eating  up,  consuming,  as  in  the  figure — 
"  They  devour  widows'  houses."     So  these  men  eat  up  the  barren 

woman  who  should  be  an  object  of  commiseration. In  v.  22  I 

would  say — not  "  draweth  the  mighty ;"  but  taketh  away,  remov- 

eth  them  by  his  superior  power. In  v.  23  the  translation  is  not 

felicitous — the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  being  that  this  strong  oppressor 
either  displaces  men  by  his  superior  power  (as  in  v.  22)  or  he 
gives  [Ileb.]  them  to  be  in  safety  and  then  they  are  at  rest — his 
eyes  however  narrowly  watching  their  ways.  That  is,  those 
whom  at  his  sovereign  option  he  deigns  to  spare,  may  live  in 
peace  under  his  perpetual  surveillance. 

24.  They  are  exalted  for  a  little  while,  but  are  gone  and 
brought  low ;  they  are  taken  out  of  the  way  as  all  other,  and 
cut  off  as  the  tops  of  the  ears  of  corn. 

The  happiest  exposition  of  this  verse  turns  on  its  punctuation, 
the  just  arrangement  of  its  distinct  and  dependent  paragraphs — 
thus:  "They  rise  high  for  a  little  while,  and  then — they  are  not ! 
They  are  brought  low ;  like  all  [the  world]  they  are  gathered  and 
cut  off  like  the  top  ears  of  corn.  Brief  is  the  pride  of  their  power ! 
Then  you  look  for  them  and  they  ai-e  there  no  longer !  As  men 
cut  off  the  highest  ears  of  a  cornfield — "  topping  them,"  is  the 
phrase — so  they  are  cut  down  and  gathered  to  their  graves.  This 
retribution  comes  in  and  after  death.;  not  before. 

25.  And  if  it  he  not  so  now,  Avho  will  make  me  a  liar,  aud 
make  my  speech  nothing  Avorth  ? 

The  conclusion — the  grip  of  the  whole  argument— lies  in  this 
appeal.  These  are  the  facts  of  the  world's  history.  Disprove 
them,  who  can  ?  If  it  be  not  so,  who  will  prove  me  a  liar,  and 
my  statements  false  and  my  words  worthless  ?  But  if  these  things 
are  true,  then  God's  retributions  upon  notoriously  wicked  men 
are  not  completed  in  this  world.  There  is  no  such  perfect  retri- 
bution here  as  ye  have  persistently  claimed. 


THE   BOOK    OF    JOB. CHAP.    XXV.  139 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Last  speech  of  Bildacl. 

This  very  short  chapter  Lrlngs  the  argument  of  Job's  three 
friends  to  its  final  close.  It  is  Bildad's  third  speech.  Zophar 
does  not  resume  the  discussion,  but  rests  his  argument  with  his 
second  speech  (in  chap.  20). — Bildad,  it  will  be  noticed,  deals 
only  in  "glittering  generalities,"  utterly  failing  to  grapple  with  or 
even  to  notice  the  strong  points  just  made  by  Job.  Plainly  as 
disputants  they  were  routed  from  the  field  and  had  virtually 
thrown  their  weapons  away  in  their  flight.  The  points  made  by 
Bildad  are  indeed  very  true;  but  what  are  they  to  the  great  argu- 
ment in  hand?  .The  conceptions  are  lofty;  the  rhythm  melliflu- 
ous, and  the  doctrine  taught  as  to  God  unobjectionable;  but  what 

are  all  these  to  the  point  in  debate  ? It  should,  however,  be 

said  that  if  Job  had  really  claimed  to  be  more  righteous  than 
God,  or  even  equally  pure  as  God,  he  would  have  deserved  any 
severity  of  rebuke,  and  the  argument  here  would,  so  far,  have 
been  in  point. 

1.  Then  answered  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  said, 

2.  Dominion  and  fear  are  with  him ;.  he  maketh  peace  in 
his  high  places. 

3.  Is  there  any  number  of  liis  armies  ?  and  upon  whom 
doth  not  his  light  arise  ? 

4.  How  tlien  can  man  be  justified  with  God  ?  or  liow  can 
he  be  clean  that  is  born  of  a  woman  ? 

"Dominion"  pertains  to  him  by  infinite  right;  "reverence" 
toward  him  also  is  for  evermore  his  due.  His  reign  fills  all  heaven 
with  blessedness  !  Ah  indeed  !  Does  not  peace  reign  there  in  its 
fullness  and  glory  forever  ? — "  His  armies  " — troops  or  hosts — seem 
to  refer  to  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  great  luminaries  of  the  sky 
which  move  in  marshaled  order  like  the  battalions  of  a  well  dis- 
ciplined army.  Giving  the  words  this  sense,  we  see  the  natural 
connection  of  the  next  clause — "  Upon  whom  doth  not  their  light 
arise  "  ?     Think  how  brilliantly  and  gloriously  they  pour  forth  the 

very  light  of  God  over  all  the  works  of  his  hands  ! In  v.  4  the 

argument,  tacitly  implied,  seems  to  be  this : — that  a  God  whose 
material  light,  thrown  all  abroad  from  the  great  orbs  of  heaven,  is 
so  pure  and  so  magnificent,  must  be  no  less  pure  and  glorious  in 
his  moral  qualities — in  holiness,  equity  and  love;  so  that  man, 
born  of  woman,  should  never  assume  to  compare  himself  with 
God  in  moral  purity,  or  even  think  to  approach  him  in  these 
respects,  or  in  any  wise  be  just  before  him. 

5.  Behold  even  to  the  moon,  and  it  sliineth  not;  yea,  the 
stars  are  not  pure  in  his  sight. 


140  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXVI. 

6.  How  mucli  less  man,  that  is  a  ■worm  ?  and  the  son  of 
man,  which  is  a  worm  ? 

Look  even  to  the  moon,  the  great  orb  of  lessor  brightness.  Its 
shining  is  nothing  compared  with  the  glory  of  its  Maker.  The 
stars  are  not  pure  in  his  eyes — which  seems  to  mean  that  their 
light  is  only  as  darkness  in  the  presence  of  God's  resplendent 
glory.  Yet  the  discrimination  between  material  and  moral  light 
seems  not  very  distinctly  drawn  in  the  speaker's  mind.  Perhaps 
we  must  say  Bildad  tacitly  assumes  that  the  material  light  which 
strikes  our  bodily  eye  is  a  fit  illustration  and  just  measure  of  that 
purer,  nobler  light  of  moral  purity  and  glory  which  dwells  in  the 
Most  High.  So  considered,  what  is  man  before  him — man  who  is 
only  a  worm — powerless,  low,  without  dignity — nay  even  disgust- 
ing!  The  Hebrew  uses  here  two  different  words — both  which 

our  English  translates  by  the  one  word,  "  worm."  Both  suggest 
insects  which  are  always  found  in  putrid,  decomposing  substances, 
so  that  both  may  alike  refer  to  this  destiny  of  the  human  body 
— food  for  corruption  and  worms. 

As  already  suggested  these  thoughts  are  grand,  impressive, 
just,  and  in  this  debate  are  in  point  to  enforce  due  reverence  to- 
ward the  Infinite  God — as  to  which  Job's  words  and  spirit  had 
been  sometimes  very  exceptionable  and  really  deserved  rebuke. 
But  as  bearing  upon  the  great  point — the  question  of  God's  moral 
administration  over  men  in  time — they  would  simply  imply  that 
it  must  be  equitable  and  righteous  on  the  great  whole — to  be 
shown  in  its  own  time — but  do  not  by  any  means  imply  that  this 
equity  and  righteousness  are  perfectly  manifested  here  in  this 
world.  Hence  the  vital  point  of  the  great  argument  was  evaded 
— not  answered.  The  discussion  had  run  its  course  and  might  as 
well  close. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

Job    begins    his  final  argument. 

The  field  of  argument  is  now  cleared  for  Job  to  reply.  He  may 
descant  upon  the  great  theme  under  discussion  and  explain  his 
position,  fully  as  he  might  wish,  in  whatever  point  it  might  seem 

to  have  been  imperfectty  or  erroneously   apprehended. This 

chapter  is  a  definite  reply  to  Bildad's  last  speech  ;  first  retorting 
with  perhaps  too  much  severity  upon  Bildad's  talk  as  worse  than 
powerless  toward  the  result  a  true  friend  should  have  sought — 
viz.,  moral  support  and  consolation  to  one  under  terrible  affliction 
(v.  1-4):  followed  by  a  glowing  description  of  the  majesty,  glory 
and    grandeur  of  the  works  of   God    in    the  matei-ial    universe. 


THE    BOOK-  OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXVI.  .  141 

Plainly  Job  is  moved  (inspired,  slniU  we  say  ?)  to  this  setting  forth 
of  God's  majesty  by  the  strain  of  Bildad's  last  speech — as  if  his 
underlying  thought  were  : — I  can  appreciate  these  grand  works  of 
(lod  as  truly  as  yourself  and  might  descant  upon  them  no  less 
eloquently.  They  have  as  much  bearing  in  favor  of  my  side  of 
the  main  question  as  of  yours.     I  shall  allow  you  no  monopoly  in 

the  use  of  such  sublime  descriptions  ! Noticeably,  Job  does  not 

intimate  hoio  in  his  view  these  lofty  conceptions  of  God's  Avorks 
in  the  realm  of  the  material-universe  bore  upon  his  doctrine  as 
to  God's  moral  administration  ;  yet  neither  did  his  opponent.  The 
logical  purpose  in  both  speeches  is  quite  eclipsed  by  the  rhetorical, 
and  perhaps  in  a  very  general  sense,  the  moral. 

1.  But  Job  answered  and  said, 

2.  How  hast  thou  helped  hhn  that  is  without  power?  hoio 
savest  thou  the  arm  that  hath  no  strength  ? 

3.  How  hast  thou  counselled  him  that  hath  no  wisdom  ?  and 
how  hast  thou  plentifully  declared  the  thing  as  it  is  ? 

4.  To  whom  hast  thou  uttered  words  ?  and  whose  spirit 
came  from  thee  ? 

As  intimated  above,  the  rebuke  involved  in  these  questions  has 
its  main  force  in  the  very  just  assumption  that  a  true  friend 
(such,  as  Bildad  claimed  to  be  and  ought  to  have  been)  should 
make  it  his  real  object  to  "help"  and  "save,"  and  really  give 
good  counsel  to  a  friend,  suffering  as  he  saw  Job  to  be.  There  was 
cutting  truth  therefore  in  Job's  ironical  reply — How  tenderly  and 
sweetly  and  most  effectively  hast  thou  helped  and. saved  and  coun- 
seled thy  poor  broken-down    friend  ! In  Job's  Hebrew  words 

both  beauty  and  force  are  heightened  very  much  by  a  usage  of  the 
negative  particle  in  a  privative  sense,  signifying  at  least  tlie  utter 
absence  of  the  quality  spoken  of,  and,  where  the  nature  of  the  case 
admits,  the  presence  of  the  opposite  quality,  thus : — How  hast  thou 
helped  the  poioerless  ;  saved  the  arm  that  is  nerveless ;  given  coun- 
sel to  the  wisdo77iIess — (if  we  might  coin  a  word) — i.  e.,  the  tnnoise 

whose  wisdom  has  sunk  even  into  folly  ! In  the  close  of  v.  3 

the  Heb.  word  translated — "  the  thing  as  it  is,"  means  simply  nn- 
der  standing ;  parallel  to  "wisdom"  in  the  first  clause.  In  v. 
4,  the  question  is  not  "  To  whom"  ?  but  hy  whom — by  whose  aid, 
by  whose  inspiration,  as  the  next  clause  implies ;  by  whose  spirit 
breathed  into  thee,  hast  thou  been  so  filled  with  superhuman  wis- 
dom as  to  utter  these  profound  and  wonderful  words  ? 

5.  Dead  things  are  formed  from  under  the  waters,  and  the 
inhabitants  thereof. 

6.  Hell  is  naked  before  him,  and  destruction  hath  no  cov- 


The  English  version  fails  here  also.     Not  "Dead  things"  but 
The  Shades" — the  spirits  of  the    departed,  which   are   by  no 


142  THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXVI. 

means  supposed  to  be  void  of  life.  The  usage  of  this  Heb.  word 
is  both  definite   and  uniform,  as  maybe  seen  in  Ps.  88:  10; — 

Prov.  2  :  18  and  9:  18  and  21:  16;  Isa.  14:  9  and  26:  14,  19. 

Moreover  the  verb  means — not,  "  are  formed";  hat  tremble.  The 
passage  rightly  translated,  gives  its  own  meaning  readily : — The 
Shades  (souls  of  the  departed)  tremble  beneath  "  the  waters  and 
their  inhabitants" — where  the  ancients  located  the  under-world 
— the  home  of  departed  souls.  "Hell"  (Heb.  Sheol) — not  the 
"Gehenna"  of  the  New  Testament — but  the  "Hades" — the  place 
of  location  for  the  spiritual  part  of  man  after  death.  "  Destruc- 
tion" is  here  but  another  name  for  the  same  locality.  The  verse 
declares  that  this  under-world  is  perfectly  open  to  the  view  of 
God.  So  in  Ps.  139:  8:  "  If  I  make  my  bed  in  hell  (this  same 
under-world),  behold,  thou  art  there." 

7.  He  stretchetli  out  the  north  over  the  empt}^  place,  and 
hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing. 

8.  He  bindeth  up  the  waters  in  his  thick  clouds  ;  and  the 
cloud  is  not  rent  under  them. 

"  The  North  " — the  northern  region  of  the  sky,  the  portion  of  that 
vast  concave  expanse  above  us  whose  starry  constellations  were 

visible  to  them  in  their  northern  hemisphere. "  Over  the  empty 

place  " — Job  using  one  of  the  two  words  of  Moses  in  Gen.  1  :  2, 
signifying  what  is  formless,  vacant  as  to  distinctly  visible  objects  ; 

the  great  vacuity  of  empty  space. "  He  hangeth  the  earth  upon 

nothing" — seem.s  a  long  stride  toward  the  true  astronomical  con- 
ception of  the  earth  as  "  self-balanced,  on  its  center  hung  " — un- 
supported by  any  thing  underneath  it,  yet  sustained  by  some  un- 
seen and  to  us  mysterious  agency  of  God. V.  8  speaks  of  the 

water-bearing  clouds  as  if  the  Great  Creator  had  tied  and  bound 
the  waters  within  them,  making  the  clouds  so  tenacious  and  strong 
that  they  can  bear  along  their  water-burden  without  being  rent 
till  they  reach  their  destination. 

9.  He  holdeth  back  the  face  of  his  throne,  and  spreadeth 
his  cloud  ujwn  it. 

"Holdeth  back" — the  sense  however  being  better  expressed  by 
''  shutteth  v}J,"  concealeth  from  the  gaze  of  men,  the  face  of  his 
throne,  no  mortal  eye  being  able  to  pierce  through  and  distinctly 
behold  it.  God  spreadeth  his  cloud  over  it.  "  Clouds  and  dark- 
ness are  round  about  him." 

10.  He  hath  compassed  the  waters  with  bounds,  until  the 
day  and  night  come  to  an  end. 

Literally; — "He  hath  described  a  circle  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters,  even  to  the  end  of  light  in  the  darkness  " — i.  e.,  to  the 
point  or  line  where  light  terminates  in  darkness.  The  idea  is 
not  (as  the  common  version  seems  to  mean)  to  continue  long  as 
the  succession  of  day  and  night  does  ;  but  with  reference  to  space 
— not  to  time — he  has  set  bounds  to  the  ocean  waters  far  away  as 


THE    BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXVI.  143 

to  tlio  utmost  verge  of  light — to  the  point  where  light  is  liniite(^ 
by  the  outlying  darkness — the  oriental  conception  being  that,  out- 
side the  realms  of  light,  darkness  held  sway. 

11.  The  pillars  of  lieaven  tremble,  and  are  astonished  at 
his  reproof. 

Here,  the  voice  of  God  beneath  which  "  the  pillars  of  heaven 
tremble  and  are  astonished"  is  thunder.  This  often  seems  to 
shake  the  very  pillars  of  the  lower  heavens — "  heavens  "  in  the 
sense  in  which  we  read  of  "  the  clouds  of  heaven" — "  the  fowls 
of  heaven."  What  in  all  the  realm  of  nature  within  the  range  of 
man's  senses  is  more  majestic — what  more  imprassively  exhibits 
the  glory  of  God,  than  the  roll  and  the  crash  of  thunder ! 

12.  He  divideth  the  sea  with  his  power,  and  by  his  under- 
standing he  smiteth  through  the  proud. 

The  translation  "  divideth  "  misleads  the  reader,  the  sense  be- 
ing— He  sitbdues  its  raging  ;  calms  it  down  to  rest  from  its  agita- 
tions. So  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  was  heard  over  the  tossing 
waves  of  the  Galilean  sea — "Peace;  be  still; — and  there  was  a 
great  calm."  Job  thinks  of  the  same  divine  power  over  the  ocean 
waters;  and  from  this,  passes  to  the  analogous  power  with  which 
God  in  his  wisdom  smites  down  the  pride  of  mortals. 

13.  By  bis  Spirit  he  hath  garnished  the  heavens;  his  hand 
hath  formed  the  crooked  serpent. 

The  creative  Spirit  is  thought  of,  as  in  Gen.  1:2:"  The  Spirit  of 
God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters." — "  Garnished  " — adorned, 
clothed  with  objects  of  beauty,  viz.,  stars,  planets  and  other  heav- 
enly   bodies.* The   serpent    thought    of   here   is  not   he  that 

crawls  prone  on  the  ground,  but  he  who  gives  name  to  one  of 
the  grandest  constellations  in  the  heavens.  The  Hebrew  quali- 
fying word  means  rather  Jiging  than  "  crooked  "—with  reference 
to  his  place  in  the  sky,  on  the  icing,  not  pi'one  upon  the  earth. 

God  alone  is  the  glorious  former  of  all  these  grandest  objects 

visible  to  mortals. 

14.  Lo,  these  are  parts  of  his  Avays  :  but  how  little  a  por- 
tion is  heard  of  him  ?  but  the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can 
understand  ? 

"Parts  of  his  ways  "  fails  to  give  the  full  sense  of  the  Hebrew 
which  means  the  borders  of  his  ways — those  outlying  manifesta- 
tions which  are  most  remote  from  his  great  central  throne  though 
nearest  to  us,  it  being  implied  that  works  and  ways  far  more  grand 

•  ®  The  original  word  is  taken  variously — either  as  a  noun  or  as  a 
verb  in  the  Piel  form — the  sense  being  the  same  whether  we  read; 
"By  his  Spirit  the  heavens  are  brightness"  ;  or,  "The  heavens  are 
made  bright,"  i.  e.,  splendid. 


144  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAT.    XXVII. 

may  lie  nearer  the  center,  around  the  ineffixble,  unapproachable 

throne  of  the  Almighty  ! The  next  clause  is  put  in  most  expresa- 

ive  Hebrew  words ; — "  And  what  a  whisper  of  a  word  is  heard  of 
Him!  But  the  thunder  of  his  power,  who  can  comprehend?" 
All  we  get  of  his  ways  with  our  dull  ear  is  but  the  whisper  of  a 
word — the  gentlest  murmuring  sound ;  but  O,  what  are  we,  to 
know  or  to  bear  the  awe-inspiring  thunder  of  his  power! 

It  can  not  be  out  of  place  to  ask  the  reader  to  compare  with  this 
chapter  of  Job,  some  portions  of  the  Song  of  Moses  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Red  Sea  as  in  Ex.  15 :  1-19,  with  an  eye  on  the  ques- 
tion of  authorship.  Are  not  both  this  chapter  and  that  song 
from  the  same  ^^ifted  poetic  genius  and  the  same  reverent,  adoring 
spirit? — Note  these  lines  from  the  Red  Sea  song: — 

"Thy  right  hand,  0  Lord,  is  become  glorious  in  power;  thy 
right  hand,  O  Lord,  hath  dashed  in  pieces  the  enemy  !  Thou  didst 
blow  with  thy  wind ;  the  sea  covered  them ;  they  sank  as  lead  in 
the  mighty  waters !  Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  among  the 
gods  ?     Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  glorious   in  holiness,   fearful  in 

praises,  doing  wonders  ?  " The  salient  points  of  resemblance 

between  this  song  of  Moses  and  the  chapter  before  us  are  (a)  High 
poetic  genius: — (b)  Most  exalted  conceptions  of  the  divine  power, 
majesty  and  glory; — i.  e.,  considered  both  intellectually  and  mor- 
ally, these  poems  indicate  and  honor  the  same  authorship. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

Joh  continues. 

This  chapter  has  no  obvious  connection  of  thought  with  the  one 
preceding.  It  is  in  two  parts : — (a)  A  very  solemn  reassertion  of 
his  essential  integrity,  as  against  the  reiterated  charges  of  hypoc- 
risy and  great  wickedness  brought  against  him  by  his  three  friends 
(v.  1-6)  ; — (b)  The  wicked  man's  portion  in  this  life  from  God's 
2:)rovidential  hand. 

This  second  part  has  given  some  critics  great  trouble  because  it 
has  seemed  to  them  so  unlike  Job's  doctrine  in  chap.  24.  They 
conclude  that  this  can  not  be  from  the  same  Job.  Hence  some 
have  held  that  this  must  be  a  third  speech  from  Zophar,  being  in 
hai-mony  with  his  known  sentiments,  but  in  their  view,  out  of 
harmony  with  Job's.  Besides,  Zophar  lacks  yet  one  speech  to  make 
his  number  good — Eliphaz  and  Bildad  having  both  spoken  three 

times  and  Zophar  but  twice. Against  attributing  this  paragraph 

to  Zophar  may  be  urged — (a)  that  the  text  gives  not  the  least  hint 
of  it — not  the  slightest  intimation  that  these  are  words  of  Zophar, 
or  any  other  man  than  Job :— and  (b)  There  is  nothing  here  out 
of  character  with  Job's  known  sentiments — nothing  out  of  harmony 


THE   BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXVII.  145 

with  what  he  has  previously  said. — For  be  it  carefully  considered, 
Job  has  held  that  retribution  on  the  ■wicked  in  this  life  is  not  per- 
fect, is  not  complete;  but  he  has  never  said,  there  is  none;  has 
never  denied  that  retribution,  more  or  less  full,  is  the  common  law 
of  human  life.  His  opponents  insisted  most  strenuously  that  this 
retribution  is  perfect  here  in  time,  always  ;  manifestly ;  invariably ; 
and  they  held  this  so  strongly  and  with  such  sweeping  application 
that  they  claimed  to  knotv  absolutely  that  Job  was  the  wickedest 

of  men  because  he  was  the  gi'eatest  known  sufferer. The  one 

point  of  irreconcilable  diversity  therefore  between  Job  and  his 
three  friends  was  precisely  this — The  absolute  and  necessary  per- 
fection of  God's  rcirihution  upon  sinners  in  the  present  life;  they 
affirming;  Job  .denying.  Job  could  say  as  in  chap.  24:  There  are 
many  cases  in  which  notoriously  wicked  men  go  through  life 
unpunished;  and  to  the  point  of  his  argument  he  might  have  said 
to  his  friends — A  single  case  of  this  sort  utterly  overthrows  your 
doctrine. Job  could  also  say  (as  in  chap.  27) ;  The  very  com- 
mon lot  of  the  wicked  in  this  life  is  calamity,  disappointment,  retri- 
bution from  the  hand  of  God.  There  was  ample  room  in  his  sys- 
tem of  theology  for  this  admission. 

After  Job's  three  friends  had  rested  their  case,  having  exhausted 
their  logic  upon  him  in  vain,  we  may  think  of  him  in  this  final 
reply  as  quietly  saying  (perhaps  in  an  uuder-tone) — Ye  have  sought 
to  make  capital  for  your  argument  by  magniloquent  discourse  upon 
the  majesty  of  God  and  the  glory  of  his  works — as  in  the  last 
speech  of  Bildad  (chap.  25).  I  would  have  you  understand  that 
ye  have  no  monopoly  of  that  theme;  I  can  descant  upon  it  in 

strains  of  poetry  and  eloquence  in  nowise  inferior  to  yours. 

Te  have  also  given  large  scope  to  your  poetry  and  eloquence  in 
your  portrayals  of  the  bitter  lot  of  the  wicked  in  this  world  under 
God's  retributions.  I  have  the  same  right  to  sjieak  of  this  as  your- 
selves; I  have  seen  all  that  ye  have  seen  and  am  quite  able  to  ex- 
patiate upon  it  even  as  ye  have  done. Moreover,  ye  claim  to 

stand  high  aloof  from  all  sympathy  with  the  wicked  man,  pi-osper 
though  he  may  for  his  brief  day  of  life.  I  too  (Job  Avould  say) 
can  honestly  deny  all  sympathy  with  the  man  of  wickedness,  how 
prosperous  soever  he  may  sometimes  appear  to  be.     The  chapter 

before   us  expresses  this  sentiment. It  was  exceedingly  wise 

and  fore-thoughtful  in  Job  to  bring  out  these  points  in  his  theo- 
logical system  in  order  to  prevent  misapprehension,  to  round  out 
his  system,  and  present  it  in  its  completeness.  Those  critics, 
therefore,  who  deny  the  authorship  of  Job  in  this  chapter  because 
of  the  doctrine  it  puts  forth  must  have  sounded  his  system  with  a 
very  short  line — unto  only  a  very  shallow  depth. 

1.  Moreover  Job  continued  his  parable,  and  said, 

2.  As  God  livetb,  tvho  hatb  taken  away  my  judgment; 
and  the  Almighty,  tdio  hath  vexed  my  soul ; 

3.  All  the  while  my  breath  is  in  me,  and  the  spirit  of 
God  is  in  my  nostrils; 


146  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XXVII. 

4.  My  lips  shall  not  speak  wickedness,  nor  my  tongue 
utter  deceit. 

"  Parable,"  not  in  the  sense  common  in  the  New  Testament — a 
supposed  or  actual  case  presented  and  more  or  less  fully  expanded 
for  illustration^but  in  the  broader  sense — discourse — here  in 
poetic  form  and  including  many  supposed  cases  for  illustration  on 
the  main  theme  of  tlie  chapter  as  presented  in  vs.  13-23. — "As 
God  liveth" — was  one  form  of  the  solemn  oath,  and  indicates  here 

the  depth  of  Job's  feeling  and  the  solemnity  of  this  utterance. 

''Taken  away  my  judgment" — on  the  most  charitable  and  intrin- 
sically most  fair  construction,  should  be  taken  to  mean  that,  on  the 
system  of  divine  government  so  strenuously  asserted  by  his  friends, 
viz.,  blessing  and  sufiFering  awarded  to  men  in  this  life  strictly 
according  to  their  individual  virtue  or  vice — God  had  taken  away 
his  righteousness ;  had  dishonored  and  disowned  it ;  had  not  recog- 
nized it  as  it  was.  If  all  his  sufferings  had  been  pure  punishment 
and  nothing  else,  then,  comparing  himself  with  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, he  had  been  overmatch  punished.  He  knew  he  had  honestly 
sought,  and  labored  to  do,  the  known  will  of  God.  He  saw  hosts 
of  men  who  had  neither  sought  to  know  God's  will  nor  to  do  it, 
yet  his  sufferings  had  been  fearfully  great,  while  their  lot  had 
been  almost  or  altogether  uniformly  prosperous.  So  contemplated 
and  so  estimated,  God  had  taken  away  from  Job  what  would  have 
been  a  just  and  equitable  apportionment  of  good  or  ill  on  the  basis 
of  his  moral  goodness  or  perverseness. 

This  need  not  be  construed  to  imply  that  Job  arraigned  the 
Almighty  as  having  dealt  with  him  unjustly.  We  are  not  really 
obliged  to  concede  that  Job  claimed  to  be  sinless  before  God,  nor 
even  that  his  sufferings  were  greater  than  he  deserved.  But  this 
we  must  concede  that,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  God's  govern- 
ment wliich  teas  2)>'^ssed  on  him  so  persistently  by  his  friends, 
his  "right  had  been  taken  away;"  he  had  been  punished  quite 
beyond  his  due  proportion,  compared  with  other  men.  So  a  man 
wrongfully  charged  with  murder  might  assert  his  innocence  most 
solemnly,  even  calling  God  to  witness  to  his  protestations,  and  yet 
he  might  not  claim  to  be  in  all  respects  sinless.  He  might  say — • 
Ye   ought   to  understand   me  as  speaking   only  to  that   charge 

against  me  of  murder. Yet  the  vindication  of  Job  which  I  here 

suggest  is  qualified,  not  absolute.  He  had  said  things  of  God  and  to 
God  which  should  have  been  more  guarded,  more  reverent.  When 
ultimately  he  came  to  see  God  with  nearer,  clearer  view,  he  ab- 
horred himself  and  repented  bitterly. "Who  hath  vexed  my 

soul" — in  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  is— hath  brought  bitterness 
upon  my  soul — bitter,  fearful  agony. — V.  3  carries  the  mind  back 
to  Gen.  2  :  7  for  the  conception  of  life  as  imparted  to  man  by  the 
breath  or  spirit  of  God,  breathed  into  him.  So  long  as  I  live — is 
the  idea — this  life  being  the  immediate  gift  of  God.  So  long  I  wiU 
speak  truth  and  truth  only — said  with  special  reference  to  confess- 
ing himself  wicked  and  guilty  in  the  sense  charged  by  his  friends. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XXVII.  147 

6.  God  forbid  that  I  should  justify  you :  till  I  die  I  will 
not  remove  mine  integrity  from  me. 

6.  My  righteousness  I  hold  fast,  and  will  not  let  it  go ; 
my  heart  shall  not  reproach  wie  so  long  as  I  live. 

Never  will  I  admit  the  justice  of  your  charges  against  me.  I 
can  not,  will  not,  deny  my  essential  integrity,  as  opposed  to  the 
hypocrisy  and  awful  wickedness  which  ye  impute  to  me.  In  this 
sense  we  are  to  understand  Joh  as  aiSrming  his  righteousness  and 

refusing  to  retract  this  affirmation. In  the  last  clause  of  v.  6 

our  Eng.  version  comes  short  of  the  Hehrew,  which  means — my 

heart  shall  not  reproach  any  one  of  my  days. In  the  phrase — 

"God  forbid" — our  translators  allowed  themselves  to  use  the 
name  of  God  where  the  original  does  not.  It  were  better  to  fol- 
low the  original  and  say  only — "Be  it  far  from  me;  be  it  an  abom- 
ination to  me  !  Never  let  it  be ! — The  use  of  that  sacred  name  for 
the  sake  of  emphasis  should  be  reverently  avoided.  The  prayer, 
"Hallowed  be  thy  name,"  should  rule  out,  as  inadmissible,  the 
translation — "God  forbid." 

7.  Let  mine  enemy  be  as  the  wicked,  and  he  that  riseth 
up  against  me  as  the  unrighteous. 

Though  I  have  maintained  (Job  would  say)  that  the  wicked 
sometimes  prosper  through  a  \o\\g  life,  yet,  let  none  suppose  I 
envy  his  happiness  or  have  any  sympathy  with  his  sj^irit  or  his 
life.  Nay,  verily.  The  worst  wish  I  can  have  for  my  enemy  is 
that  he  may  have  the  doom  of  the  wicked.  I  can  think  of  nothing 
more  dreadful — can  ask  for  him  no  destiny  more  fearful. 

From  this  point  through  the  chapter  Job  descants  upon  the 
fearful  lot  of  the  wicked  even  in  this  world. 

8.  For  what  is  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite,  though  he  hath 
gained,  when  God  taketh  away  his  soul? 

9.  Will  God  hear  his  cry  when  trouble  cometh  upon  him? 
Some  word  of  broader  significance  than  "  hypocrite  "  would  be 

better  here,  for  the  thought  is  not  of  one  who  pi-etends  to  be  Avhat 
he  is  not;  but  of  the  robber,  despoiler,  who  has  enriched  himself 
by  violence  or  fraud.  What  will  his  hope  (?'.  c,  of  enjoying  his 
accumulations)  amount  to  though  he  hath  torn  away  their  goods 
from  others,  when  God  shall  similarly  tear  away  his  soul  ?  Will 
God  hear  his  cry  in  that  dread  hour  ? 

10.  Will  he  delight  himself  in  the  Almighty  ?  will  he  al- 
ways call  upon  God? 

Has  this  despoiler  of  others  ever  chosen  God  for  his  portion 
and  his  joy  ?  Has  it  been  his  habit  to  call  upon  God  ?  Or  does 
he  not  rather  cry  out  for  God  only  in  his  times  of  agony,  when 
God's  fearful  retributions  crush  him  down  ? 

11.  I  will  teach  you  by  the  hand  of  God;  that  Avhich  is 
with  the  Almighty  will  I  not  conceal. 


148  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXVII. 

12.  Behold,  all  ye  yourselves  have  seen  it;  why  then  are 
ye  thus  altogether  vain  ? 

The  meanino;  is  not — I  will  teach  you  hi/  the  hefjJ  of  God ; 
but  this  ;  I  will  teach  concerning  God's  hand  ;  concerning  God's 
ways  of  dealing  with  the  ungodly.  So  in  the  parallel  clause  : 
What  is  with  the  Almighty — his  counsels  and  methods  of  deal- 
ing with  the  wicked,  I  will  not  conceal,  but  will  speak  of  them  in 
all  plainness.  Ye  have  all  seen  it;  how  comes  it  then  that  ye 
have  spoken  so  unwisely — have  said  so  much  that  was  only  van- 
ity ? Job  implies  that  though  his  friends  had  seen  the  facts  of 

human  life,  they  had  reasoned  from  them  with  much  fallacy — 
unto  vain,  indefensible  conclusions. 

13.  This  is  the  portion  of  a  wicked  man  with  God,  and 
the  heritage  of  oppressors,  ichich  they  shall  receive  of  the 
Almighty. 

This  gives  the  reader  the  subject-matter  of  the  rest  of  the  chap- 
ter— viz.,  the  portion  allotted  to  the  wicked  by  the  Almighty  King. 
Forcibly  it  is  spoken  of  as  "their  heritage" — the.  inheritance 
which  falls  to  them  and  of  which  they  may  be  very  sure.  "  What- 
soever a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  "  The  wages  of 
sin  is  death." 

14.  If  his  children  be  multiplied,  it  is  for  the  sword  ;  and 
his  offspring  shall  not  be  satisfied  with  bread. 

15.  Those  that  remain  of  him  shall  be  buried  in  death  and 
his  widows  shall  not  weep. 

He  may  think  himself  blessed  in  many  children  ;    but   alas ! 

they  will  be  only  food  for  the  sword  to  devour. In  v.  15,  the 

word  "  death  "  signifies  the  pestilence,  often  thought  and  spoken 
of  as  a  "great  Death."     The  sense  is  that  those  who  escape  the 

sword  are  swept  to  their  early  graves  by  the  pestilence. That 

"  his  widows  make  no  lamentation"  indicates  forcibly  that  the 
woes  of  his  household  come  too  thick  and  fast  and  are  too  terrible 
to  afford  either  time  or  heart  for  the  customary  oriental  lamenta- 
tions over  the  dead.  Or,  it  may  be  implied  that  they  die  and  no- 
body cares — so  worthless  or  worse  than  worthless  to  society  had 

they  become ! The  same  thing  is  said  (Ps.  78  :  64)  in  a  similar 

description  of  extreme  calamity. 

16.  Though  he  heap  up  silver  as  the  dust,  and  prepare 
raiment  as  the  clay  ; 

17.  He  may  prepare  ii,  but  the  just  shall  put  it  on,  and 
the  innocent  shall  divide  the  silver. 

18.  He  buildeth  his  house  as  a  moth,  and  as  a  booth  that 
the  keeper  maketh. 

The  wicked  amass  clothing  for  the  righteous  to  wear,  and  sil- 
ver for  the  righteous  to  divide  among  themselves.  SoGo.d  utilizes 
the  wickedness  of  men  to  the  benefit  of  the  righteous — one  of  his 


THE     BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXVII.  149 

ways  of  just  retribution  upon  sin — one  of  the  glorious  testimonies 
that  the  Great  Father    loves  his    oifspring  and  seeks    their  real 

well-being. The  wicked  man  builds  his  house  as  the  moth  does 

his — for  the  moment  only ;  or  as  a  booth,  a  rude  tent  which  the 
vineyard-keeper  puts  up  for  the  few  days  while  his  presence  by 
night  is  needed  for  the  protection  of  his  ripening  fruit.  He  may 
flatter  himself  that  he  has  built  for  long  years— for  a  kind  of 
earthly  immortality.     Alas,  for  his  mistake  ! 

19.  The  rich  man  shall  lie  down,  but  he  shall  not  be  gath- 
ered: he  openeth  his  eyes,  and  he  is  not. 

20.  Terrors  take  hold  on  him  as  waters,  a  tempest  stealeth 
him  away  in  the  night. 

21.  The  east  wind  carrieth  him  away,  and  he  departeth: 
and  as  a  storm,  hurleth  him  out  of  his  place. 

The  rich  man  must  lie  down  in  death,  despite  of  all  that  his 
riches  can  do  to  save  him  ;  but  he  "  shall  not  be  gathered  "  to 
the  honored  fathers  who  have  gone  before.  This,  we  may  remem- 
ber, was  the  favored  lot  of  the  holy  patriarchs — "  gathered  to  their 
fathers " — to  the  glorious  company  of  the  hallowed  dead.  See 
Gen.  25  :  8  and  35 :  29  and  49 :  29  and  Jer.  8  :  2  and  Ezek.  29 :  5. 

But  no  such  honor  awaits  the  ungodly  rich  at  their  death. 

The  fearful  suddenness  of  his  death  is  expressed  in  the  words — 
"He  openeth  his  eyes,  and  he  is  not"  !  Quick  as  a  wink  of  the 
eye,  he  is  gone  !  Terrors  overtake  him,  rushing  on  like  the  water- 
flloods.  In  the  stillness  of  the  night,  a  tempest  snatches  him 
away.  The  Hebrew  verb  common  for  the  sense  "  steal,"  implies 
that  it  comes  upon  him  unawares  as  a  thief,  yet  resistless  and  ter- 
rible as  a  tempest. The  east  wind — the  dreaded  Eurochlydon 

of  oriental  lands  and  waters — bears  him  away  and  he  is  gone  ! 
Ah,. it  hvrls  him  stormwise  (the  sense  of  the  Ileb.  verb)  from  his 
place.  So  swift  and  resistless  are  the  instruments  of  Jehovah's 
vengeance  to  finish  his  work  ! 

22.  For  God  shall  cast  upon  him,  and  not  spare  :  he  would 
fain  flee  out  of  his  hand. 

23.  Men  shall  clap  their  hands  at  him,  and  shall  hiss  him 
out  of  his  place. 

These  terrors  that  seize  him — the  storm  and  the  whirlwind  that 
hurl  him  out  of  the  world,  are  put  here  as  the  very  hand  of  the 
Almighty.  "  He  "  [God]  "  shall  cast  [his  bolts  of  lightning] 
upon  this  wicked  man  and  spare  him  not — -_show  him  no  mercy! 
O  how  gladly  would  this  smitten  sinner  flee  from  Jehovah's  hand 
— if  only  he  could!  This  passage  suggests  Ps.  11:  6;  "Upon 
the  wicked  he  shall  rain  snares,  fire  and  brimstone,  and  an  horri- 
ble tempest:  this  shall  be  the  portion  of  their  cup."  Both  these 
passages    have  an  eye  on  the   rain  of   fire  and  ])rimstone  upon 

guilty  Sodom. So  universal  is  the  feeling  that  this  guilty  man 

deserves  to  die  and  that  his  death  will  bring  relief  and  blessing  to 


150  THE   BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXVIII. 

mankind  that  all  unite  to  clap  their  hands  over  his  fall  and  to  hiss 
him  out  of  his  place  among  the  living  !  In  one  aspect  of  his  case, 
survivors  may  stand  aghast  before  the  awfulness  of  such  a  doom  ; 
but  in  another,  they  feel  a  sense  of  relief  from  a  living  curse  and 
of  rest  under  the  retributive  rule  of  the  Almighty. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

Job  still  continues  Ins  speech. 

This  memorable  chapter  celebrates  the  praises  of  wisdom,  and 
witnesses  sublimely  that  man's  search  for  it  is  vain,  though  he  be 
able  to  bore  the  mountains  and  dive  deep  into  the  bowels  of  the 
everlasting  hills  for  things  most  rare  and  precious.  Beautifully 
Job  introduces  his  theme  by  setting  forth  the  methods  of  mining 
operations  and  the  marvelous  industry,  skill  and  persistence 
which  they  evince  (v.  1-11)  ;  then  passes  on  to  ask  where  wisdom 
shall  be  found  (v.  12-14);  and  what  most  precious  things  can 
measure  its  value  (v.  15-19) ; — returning  again  to  the  question — 
Whence  shall  wisdom  come  and  where  is  its  place  of  abode 
(v.  20-22)  ;  thus  bringing  us  to  the  final  and  grand  conclusion 
that  none  can  know  its  home  and  none  can  bring  it  down  to  man 
save  God  himself.  God  has  found  it;  has  used  it  in  his  glorious 
woi'ka  of  creation,  and  commends  it  to  his  creature  man,  setting 
forth  that  the  perfection  of  wisdom  for  mortals  is  "  to  fear  the 
Lord  and  to  depart  from  evil "  (v.  23-28). 

1.  Surely  there  is  a  vein  for  tlie  silver,  and  a  place  for  gold 
where  they  fine  it. 

2.  Iron  ia  taken  out  of  the  earth,  and  brass  is  molten  out 
of  the  stone. 

Job  opens  abruptly,  hia  first  Avord  signifying — not  "  surely," 
but  for,  as  if  he  had  before  his  mind  the  entire  theme  of  the 
chapter : — For,  though  man  knoweth  the  way  to  the  silver 
and  the  gold  of  the  mountains,  yet  he  knoweth  not  the  home  and 
dwelling  place  of  wisdom. "  A  place  for  gold  which  men  re- 
fine."  Copper  rather  than    "brass" — the  latter  being  not  a 

simple  mineral,  but  a  compound  of  copper  and  zinc.  The 
miners  find  in  the  earth,  therefore,  not  brass  but  copper — often 
however  impure  from  being  mixed  with  what  may  be  popularly 
called  "  stone,"  from  which  it  is  separated  by  fusion. 

.  o.  He  setteth  an  end  to  darkness,  and  searcheth  out  all 
perfection :  the  stones  of  darkness,  and  the  shadow  of 
death. 


THE   BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.  XXVIIT.  151 

4.  The  flood  breaketli  out  from  the  inhabitant;  even  the 
waters  forgotten  of  the  foot :  they  are  dried  up,  they  are 
gone  away  from  men. 

"  Setting  an  end  to  darkness  seems  to  mean  that  he  penetrates  to 
the  very  uttermost  limit  of  its  reahn — i.  e.,  underneath  the  moun- 
tains, in  the  deep  shafts  which  he  sinks  under  the  hills.  He  searches 
out — not  "  all  perfection,"  but  to  the  extreme  end  of  that  realm  of 
darkness — the  place  where  are  found  "  stones  of  darkness,"  and 

where  "the  shadow   of   death"  reigns. In  v.  4  our  English 

version  misses  the  sense.  The  following  somewhat  free  transla- 
tion will  give  the  verse  a  tangible  significance  : — "  lie  drives  a 
shaft  far  away  from  man's  abode;  in  paths  forgotten  of  the  foot; 
they  hang  pendulous,  wanderers  from  among  men."  The  miner 
sinks  his  shaft  deep  into  the  hills,  along  paths  unknown  to  human 
feet;  you  see  him  hang  suspended — gone  like  the  roaming  wan- 
derer, far  from  where  men  dwell. 

5.  As  for  the  earth,  out  of  it  cometh  bread  :  and  under  it 
is  turned  up  as  it  were  fire. 

6.  The  stones  of  it  are  the  place  of  sai)phires :  and  it  bath 
dust  of  gold. 

The  earth's  surface  supplies  the  soil  for  man's  bread;  but  its 
underlying  regions  are  upturned,  and  desolated  as  with  fire — 
which  may  seem  to  favor  the  Vulcan  geological  hypothesis.  Un- 
questionably, the  realm  where  the  miner  works  bears  abundant 
traces  of  fusion  under  intense  heat. 

7.  There  is  a  path  which  no  fowl  knoweth,  and  which  the 
vulture's  eye  hath  not  seen  : 

8.  The  lion's  Avhelps  have  not  trodden  it,  nor  the  fierce 
lion  passed  by  it. 

This  under-rcalm  of  the  miner — all  unlike  the  wilderness  and 
the  solitary  places  on  the  earth's  surface,  lies  where  no  bird  of 
prey  has  seen — no  lion's  foot  has  trodden. 

9.  He  putteth  forth  his  hand  upon  the  rock;  he  over- 
turneth  the  mountains  by  the  roots. 

10.  He  cutteth  out  rivers  among  the  rocks ;  and  his  eye 
seeth  every  precious  thing.  ^' >  >.  i..tc  u  ■  £.>--<^-^v^ 

11.  He  bindeth  the  floods  from  overflowing  ;  and  the  thing 
that  is  hid  bringeth  he  forth  to  light. 

This  is  what  the  miner  does.  In  v.  11  he  is  said  to  bind  the 
floods  even  from  dripping,  rather  than  "overflowing."  He  diverts 
the  waters  into  channels  cut  for  the  purpose,  so  that  they  shall 
not  be  loceping  upon  him. 

12.  But  where  shall  wisdom  be  found  ?  and  where  is  the 
place  of  understanding? 


152  THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXVIII. 

13.  Man  knowetli  not  the  price  thereof;  neither  is  it  found 
in  the  land  of  the  living. 

14.  The  depth  saith,  It  is  not  in  me :  and  the  sea  saith,  It 
is  not  with  me. 

The  place  and  the  price  of  wisdom  are  alike  the  object  of  in- 
quiry. Man  can  search  out  the  ruby  and  the  sapphire  ;  can  bring 
up  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  most  precious  gold  and  silver ; 
but  where  shall  he  find  wisdom  ?  He  calls  to  tlie  deep  and  is 
answered — "It  is  not  in  me."  The  "depth"  and  the  "  sea"  are 
only  poetic  variations  as  to  name — two  names  for  the  same  thing: 

15.  It  can  not  be  gotten  for  gold,  neither  shall  silver-  be-' 
weighed  for  the  price  thereof. 

16.  It  can  not  be  valued  with  the  gold  of  Ophir,  with  the. 
precious  oynx,  or  the  sapphire. 

17.  The  gold  and  the  crystal  can  not  equal  it:  and  the 
exchange  of  it  sliall  not  he  for  jewels  of  fine  gold.  ■..<.' 

18.  No  mention  shall  be  made  of  coral,  or  of  pearls:  |tjr 
the  price  of  wisdom  i&  above  rubies.  '        ^  •■ ,      ^ 

19.  The  topaz  of  Ethioj)ia  shall  not  equal  it,  neither  s^^ti"' 
it  be  valued  with  pure  gold. 

Grandly  the  poet  calls  for  some    precious    thing   which   can 
measure  the  value  of  wisdom.     All  are   too  poor  to  supply  any  . 
standard  whatever  which  can  adequately  express  it. 

20.  "Whence  then  cometh  wisdom  ?  and  where  is  the  place 
of  understanding  ? 

21.  Seeing  it  is  hid  from  the  eyes  of  all  living,  and  kept 
close  from  the  fowls  of  the  air. 

22.  Destruction  and  death  say,  "NVe  have  heard  the  fame 
thereof  with  our  ears. 

He  returns  to  the  great  question — "Whence  cometh  wisdom?" 
Hidden  from  all  human  eyes,  never  discovered  even  by  the  far- 
sighted  fowls  of  the  air;  Destruction  and  Death  have  only 
heard  the  rumor  of  it,  but  even  they  have  never  seen  it.  That 
they  should  be  thought  of  as  having  heard  of  wisdom,  shall  we 
say  in  the  wailings  of  the  lost  who  go  down  to  the  realms  of  de- 
struction for  tlie  want  thereof  and  the  guilty  abuse  of  what  they 
did  have — is  inexpressibly  touching,  terribly  suggestive. 

23.  God  understandeth  the  Avay  thereof,  and  he  knoweth 
the  place  thereof. 

24.  For  he  looketh  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  seeth 
under  the  whole  heaven  ; 

25.  To  make  the  weight  for  the  winds ;  and  he  weigheth 
the  waters  by  measure. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXIX.  158 

26.  "When  he  made  a  decree  for  tlie  rain,  and  a  way  for 
the  lightning  of  the  thunder  ; 

27.  Then  did  he  see  it,  and  dedare  it;  he  prepared  it, 
yea,  and  searched  it  out. 

Man  searches  for  the  home  and  for  the  source  or  fountain  of  wi?- 
dom,  all  in  vain;  but  God  understands  the  way  thereof  Ah 
indeed,  he  knows  it  most  perfectly.  He  saw  it  and  brought  it 
into  reqnisition,  what  time  he  determined  the  weight  for  the 
winds  and  weighed  out  the  great  waters  of  the  mighty  seas,  when 
he  fixed  the  ordinances  for  the  rain  and  ordained  the  law  for  the 
lightning  and  the  thunder; — then  he  saw  what  for  him  was  infin- 
ite wi?dom,  and  ingrafted  its  results  into  this  glorious  frame-work 

of  nature  and  into  her  laws  of  sublimely  grand  operation. The 

reader  will  recall  the  same  line  of  thought  in  Prov.  8:  22-31.  In- 
deed it  seems  probable  that  the  suggestive  germs  of  thought  in 
that  chapter  by  Solomon  were  found  in  this  of  Job  The  points 
of  resemblance  are  manifold.  Apparently,  Job  was  the  antece- 
dent, and  Solomon  developed  the  germs  he  found  here. 

^3.  Aud  unto  man  he  said,  Behold,  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
th?'  is  wisdom ;  and  to  depart  from  evil  ts  understanding. 

For  man  wisdom  has  a  purpose  and  work  far  other  than  the 
framing  of  nature's  laws  or  the  construction  of  material  worlds. 
To  man  he  saitli  simply — "Behold,  the  fear  of  the  Lord  for  thee 
is  supreme  wisdom;  to  depart  from  evil  is  thy  highest  and  best 
understanding.  Be  thou  a  humble  disciple  at  the  feet  of  thine 
Infinite  Maker  and  Father;  so  shall  thy  highest  well-being  be  safe 
under  his  care,  thy  heart  reposing  forever  in  the  fullness  of  his 

love. God's  Avisdom  is  commended  to  us  as  seen  in  the  fitness 

and  order,  the  beauty  and  beneficence,  the  grandeur  and  the  glory, 
of  his  visible  works.  Such  wisdom  must  be  adequate  to  instruct 
man  in  the  way  of  life  and  peace.  Listen,  therefore,  oh  man,  to 
the  wise  counsels  of  thine  Infinite  Maker.  His  voice  proclaims: 
"Behold,  the  fear  of  the  Lord" — reverential  and  obedient — "that 
is  wisdom;"  "to  depart  from  evil  is  for  thee  the  highest  and  best 
understanding." 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Job  speaks  of  his  better  days. 

The  course  of  thought  throughout  this  chapter  is  simple  and 
obvious,  all  perfectly  true  to  nature  for  one  who  is  consciously 
broken  down  with  disease  and  fallen  from  the  position  of  influence 
and  honor  which  he  held  in  his  better  days.     How  often  Job's 


154  THE   BOOK    OF   JOB.  -CHAP.  XXIX. 

thought  must  have  gone  back  to  that  honored  and  delightful  Past — 
saddened  only  by  the  feeling — Will  it  ever  return?  Would  it 
might  possibly  bel 

1.  Moreover  Job  continued  his  parable,  and  said, 

2.  Oh  that  I  were  as  in  months  past,  as  in  the  days  ivhen 
God  preserved  me ; 

3.  When  his  candle  shined  upon  my  head,  and  tvlien  by 
his  light  I  walked  through  darkness ; 

4.  As  I  was  in  the  days  of  my  youth,  when  the  secret  of 
God  ivas  upon  my  tabernacle  ; 

5.  When  the  Almighty  was  yet  with  me,  when  my  chil- 
dren ivere  about  me. 

The  first  and  foremost  element  in  that  former  happy  life  was — 
"God  preserved  me;"  his  lamp  shone  out  over  my  head — with 
allusion  to  the  lamp  suspended  from  the  center  of  an  oriental  tent, 
which  shed  down  its  soft  and  cheery  light  upon  the  heads  of  the 
household.  Illumined  with  this  light  of  God,  he  could  most  joy- 
fully walk  through  darkness  and  know  it  not. — As  I  was  in  my 
autumn  days  (better  than  "days  of  my  youth")  the  woi-d  being 
used  for  the  period  of  ripened  fruits  and  the  joy  of  the  harvest 
ingathering.  Job  thinks  of  that  as  the  time  when  he  was  reaping 
the  precious  harvests  of  a  well  spent  life. — When  the  favor  of  God 
(more  exact  than  the  word  "secret") — when  God's  favor  rested 
upon  my  tent. — There  is  pertinence  in  the  choice  of  the  name 
"the  Almighty" — when  He  who  is  almighty  to  save,  infinitely 
strong  to  protect  and  defend  and  in  every  way  to  bless — was  with 
me.  And  all  my  children — an  unbroken  family — were  round 
about  me.  Oh  how  unlike  this  present  unutterable  desolation  I — 
not  a  child  spared  to  my  home  and  to  my  heart ! 

6.  AVhen  I  washed  my  steps  with  butter,  and  the  rock 
poured  me  out  rivers  of  oil ; 

7.  When  I  went  out  to  the  gate  through  the  city,  when 
I  prepared  my  seat  in  the  street ! 

8.  The  young  men  saw  me,  and  hid  themselves :  and  the 
aged  arose,  and  stood  up. 

"Washed  my  steps  with  butter" — puts  the  thing  somewhat 
more  strongly  than  Job's  Hebrew  words,  which  rather  mean — 
lyiy  steps  were  bathed  in  milk — which  he  had  in  plenty. — "  Streams 
of  oil  from  the  i-ock"  seem  to  anticipate,  by  many  whole  cen- 
turies, the  "petroleum"  of  our  own  times.  1  know  not  what  other 
sense  to  give  these  words.  "Streams"  is  more  accurate  than 
"  rivers,"  the  Heb.  word  being  currently  used  not  for  the  great 
rivers  of  nature,  but  for  the  artificial  channels  cut  by  the  hand 
of  man  for  purposes  of  irrigation. 

In  those  days  Job  seems  to  have  officiated  as  judge,  holding 
this  position  by  virtue  of  his  age,  wisdom  and  known  integrity. 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXIX.  155 

Courts  being  hold  at  the  city  gates,  Job  was  there  in  business 
hours,  placing  his  seat  in  the  opeii  sj)aces  near  the  gate — so  the 
Heb.  word  means — and  not  "  in  the  street,"  considered  as  the 
thoroughfare  of  travel.  At  his  coming,  young  men  retired  respect- 
fully and  quietly,  while  the  aged  arose  and  stood  in  honor  of 
their  chief. 

9.  The  princes  refrained  talking,  and  laid  their  hand  on 
tlieir  mouth. 

10.  The  nobles  held  their  peace,  and  their  tongue  cleaved 
to  the  roof  of  their  mouth. 

11.  When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me  ;  and  when 
the  eye  saw  me,  it  gave  Avitness  to  me  : 

12.  Because  I  deliverd  the  poor  that  ciied,  and  the  father- 
less, and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 

13.  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  me  :  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy. 

•  "When  the  eye  saw  me  it  gave  witness  "  by  such  tokens  of  rec- 
ognition as  were  most  significant  of  profound  respect.  Notice- 
ably the  ground  for  this  honest  respect  was  the  intrinsic  justice 
and  goodness  of  Job's  decisions.  He  proved  himself  worthy  of 
all  honor,  and  his  people  gladly  accorded  it  to  him.  The  widows 
and  the  fatherless  were  loud  and  emphatic  in  his  praise,  and  all 
humanity  was  glad  thereof! 

14.  I  put  on  righteousness,  and  it  clothed  me :  my  judg- 
ment uns  as  a  robe  and  a  diadem. 

In  this  verse  we  have  a  very  curious  play  upon  words,  resulting 
in  noble  thought,  beautifully  expressed.  Literally  we  might  ren- 
der:— I  put  on  ri(/hteo7tsness,  and  it  2}i(t  on  me.  But  by  usage 
the  sense  of  the  first  clause  is,  I  put  on  righteousness,  not  as  a 
hypocritical,  outside  show,  but  by  taking  it  into  my  very  being  (as 
Paul  speaks  of  "putting  on  Christ") — engrafting  it  into  my  char- 
acter; conforhiing  my  heart  and  life  to  its  principles  and  behests. 

Then  "righteousness  put  on  me"  in  the  sense  of  honoring  me 
as   its  worthy  representative,  and  of  being  itself  set   forth  well 

recommended  and  illustrated  by  my  example. The  last  clause 

of  the  verse  declares — My  inherent  justice,  always  manifesting 
itself  in  my  life,  became  to  me  as  a  robe  and  a  diadem — right 
royal  apparel. 

15.  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  xms  I  to  the  lame. 

16.  I  was  a  father  to  the  poor  :  and  the  cause  tvhich  I  knew 
not  I  searched  out. 

17.  And  I  brake  the  jaws  of  the  wicked,  and  plucked  the 
spoil  out  of  his  teeth. 

We  shall  be  excused  if  we  envy  .Job  the  sweet  recollections  of 
puch  a  life.     Giving  one's  best  and  utmost  labor  to  blessings  upon 


15G  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. CHAP.  XXIX. 

the  needy ;  becoming  eyes  to  the  blind  and  feet  to  the  Lame  and 
succor  to  the  wi'onged; — ah,  angels  might  be  thankful  for  such 

Avork  to  do  and  for  the  joy  that  comes  of  it ! "The  cause  I  had 

not  known"  (v.  16)  we  may  suppose  to  be  that  of  one  personally 
a  stranger — a  fact  which  shows  that  Job's  humane  sympathies 
Avere  broader  than  the  circle  of  old  friends  or  personal  acquaint- 
ance.  The  "  searching  otit  "  testifies  to  his  substantial  integ- 
rity and  patient  industry,  sparing  no  pains  to  get  the  whole  truth 
and  to  award  full  and  equal  justice.  A  magnificent  model  for  a 
judge! 

The  recollection  of  such  a  life  would  have  refreshed  the  soul  of 
this  great  sufferer,  but  for  the  agonizing  perplexity  of  the  prob- 
lem— Why  does  God  scourge  me  thus,  apparently  for  a  life  so 
honest  and  so  true  to  the  interests  of  humanity  and  to  the  known 

will  of  my  Maker? In  v.  17,  Job  tacitly  compares  the  man  of 

violence,  fraud,  or  extortion,  to  a  wild  beast — the  hyenas  or  lions 
of  the  desert.  I  brake  in  his  fangs ;  I  plucked  from  his  teeth  his 
prey — the  flesh  he  had  torn  off  from  his  victim.  This  last  verb, 
"  plucked,"  carries  in  it  the  further  sense — cast  it  forth — plucked 
it  out  and  put  it  in  a  place  of  safety. 

18.  Then  I  said,  I  shall  die  in  my  nest,  and  I  shall  multi- 
ply my  days  as  the  sand. 

19.  My  root  %vas  spread  out  by  the  waters,  and  the  dew 
lay  all  night  upon  ;ny  branch. 

20.  My  glory  was  fresh  iu  me,  and  my  bow  was  renewed 
in  my  hand. 

Why  should  not  Job  naturally  assume  that  under  the  providence 
of  a  God  at  once  just  and  good,  his  life  of  integrity  and  piety, 
"  fearing  God  and  eschewing  evil,"  would  have  no  reverses ;  would 
escape  all  calamities,  and  certainly  all  manifest  inflictions  from 
God's  hand.  "I  shall  die  in  my  nest,"  having  numbered  my 
earthly  days  as  the  sand.  He  could  not  drop  his  eye  on  his 
present  case  without  astonishment — nay,  amazement.  How  did 
it  perplex  and  confound  him — that  such  a  life,  under  the  rule  of 
such  a  God,  should  lead  on  into  this  dreadful  misery ! 

Taking  his  imagery  from  the  vegetable  world,  he  says — My  root 
is  open  to  the  waters  ;  the  dew  lies  all  night  on  my  branch: — con- 
ditions which  in  his  climate  ensured  growth,  freshness,  fertility. 

"  My  glory  fresh  upon  me"  still  follows  out  the  same  figure, 

the  glory  of  vegetable  life  being  its  perpetual  freshness. By 

what  processes  the  bow  [of  war]  was  renewed  in  strength  in  the 
hand  is  not  certainly  known  ;  perhaps  by  unbending  it  to  give  the 
fibers  opportunity  to  recover  their  normal  elasticity  and  force. 

21.  Unto  me  men  gave  ear,  and  waited,  and  kept  silence 
at  ray  counsel. 

22.  After  my  words  they  spake  not  again ;  and  my  speech 
dropped  upon  them. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXX.  157 

23.  And  they  waited  for  me  as  for  the  rain ;  and  they 
opened  their  inouth  wide  as  for  the  latter  rain. 

Not,  "kept  silence  at  my  counsel,"  as  if  he  meant  to  say,  when 
I  advised  it ;  but  kept  silence,  waiting  for  my  counsel.     This  is 

the  well  defined  sense  of  the  Hebrew. "  My  speech  dropped  " — 

better,  dripped,  fell  like  the  dew,  grateful,  refreshing.  In  those 
dry,  desert  regions,  waiting  for  the  rain  is  a  figure  full  of  signifi- 
cance. 

24.  If  I  Laughed  on  them,  they  believed  it  not ;  and  the 
light  of  my  countenance  they  cast  not  down. 

25.  I  chose  out  their  way,  and  sat  chief,  and  dwelt  as  a 
king  in  the  army,  as  one  that  comforteth  the  mourners. 

Smile  gives  the  true  sense  better  than  "laugh,"  since  the  latter 
might  imply  contempt  which  would  be  utterly  out  of  place 
here.  "I  smiled  on  them  :  "  they  could  not  believe  their  eyes:  it 
seemed  too  good  to  be  true.  They  did  nothing  to  cause  the  light 
of  my  countenance  to  fall — used  like  the  phrase — "  his  counte- 
nance fell,"  meaning  that  for  smiles  came  frowns. My  judgment 

and  expressed  will  determined  their  course  [or  as  some  critics  take 
it,]  I  gladly  put  myself  in  their  company,  and  sat  among  them  an 
acknowledged  chief;  or  like  a  king  at  the  head  of  his  armed 
hosts;  yet  not  ruling  despotically,  but  enjoying  the  consideration 

and  love  accorded  to  him  who  comforts  mourners. All  in  all,  a 

most  delightful  description  of  an  Arab  chieftain,  a  Shiek  among 
his  people,  of  most  amiable  spirit  and  most  benign  influence,  en- 
joying the  unbounded  esteem  and  respect  of  his  tribe. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

Job  speaks  of  Jiis  sad  and  desolate  present. 

This  chapter  paints  Job's  present  in  contrast  with  his  past,  as 
in  chap.  29.  There,  in  the  highest  honor;  here,  in  utter  dis- 
honor; there,  prosperous  and  happy,  his  cup  filled  with  all  de- 
sirable earthly  good;  here,  afiiicted,  overwhelmed,  abhorred 
of  men,  denied  a  hearing  of  God;  his  cup  absolutely  full  with  all 
imaginable  forms  of  human  misery.  Noticeably  Job  sets  forth 
the  depth  of  dishonor  icto  which  he  had  sunk  by  showing  how 
mean  and  low  were  the  people  Avho  now  looked  down  contemptu- 
ously upon  him  (v.  1-15) ; — and  then  describes  by  various  figures 
the  depth  of  his  sorrows  and  the  utter  desolation  of  his  state, 
especially  because  he  is  so  manifestly  forsaken  of  God  (v.  16-31). 

1.  But  now  they  that  are  younger  than  I,  have  me  in  de- 


158  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXX. 

rision,  whose  fathers  I  would  have  disdained  to  .have  set  with 
the  dogs  of  my  flock. 

2.  Yea,  whereto  might  the  strength  of  their  hands  profit 
me,  in  Avhom  old  age  was  perished  ? 

3.  For  want  and  famine  they  were  solitary ;  fleeing  into  the 
wilderness  in  former  time  desolate  and  waste. 

The  great  respect  for  age,  universal  in  those  days  throughout 
all  oriental  society,  makes  this  a  strong  point — that  those  far 
younger  thau  liimself  should  mock  and  insult  him,  even  boys 
whose  fathers  were  so  far  below  him  in  social  rank  that  he  had 

disdained  to  set  them  with  the  dogs  of  his  flock. V.  2  heightens 

the  picture  of  those  scoffing  young  men  by  saying  that  the 
strength  of  their  hands  could  avail  him  nothing  were  they  never 
so  well  disposed,  for  all  their  hope  of  a  vigorous  old  age  had  per- 
ished and  gone.  Vice  and  crime  had  exhausted  their  vital  forces 
long  before  their  normal  time.     Such  imbecility  sinks  young  men 

to  the  lowest  point  of  worthlessness  and  contempt. In  v.  3, 

the  best  modern  critics  give  a  different  meaning  to  several 
words.  Not  "  solitary,"  but  famished  with  vrant  and  hunger. 
Instead  of  "fleeing  into  the  wilderness,"  some  put  it — gnawing 
doion  the  desert  as  cattle  and  horses  gnaw  down  the  bare  pastures 
for  a  hai'd  living.  Rather  than — "  in  former  time  desolate," 
Gesenius  puts  it — tlie  night  or  darkness  of  desolate  wastes — 
assuming  that  darkness  is  made  a  figure  for  extreme  desolation. 

All  these  word?  in  question  arc  of  rare  occurrence.     Hence 

their  precise  significance  is  somewhat  in  doubt. 

4.  Who  cut  up  mallows  by  the  bushes,  and  juniper  roots 
for  their  meat. 

5.  They  were  driven  forth  from  among  men,  (they  cried 
after  them  as  after  a  thief). 

6.  To  dwell  in  the  cliffs  of  the  valley,  in  caves  of  the 
earth,  and  in  the  rocks. 

7.  Among  the  bushes  they  brayed  ;  under  the  nettles  they 
were  gathered  together. 

8.  They  were  children  of  fools,  yea,  children  of  base  men ; 
they  were  viler  than  the  earth. 

These  low,  savage  tribes  are  well  described  by  the  food  on 
which  they  subsist — the  wild  shrubs  and  roots  which  the  desert 
affords.  They  were  driven  forth  from  the  abodes  of  civilized 
men  who  shouted  after  them — hooted  them  ofi"  as  men  do  the 
thief — to  dwell  in  horrible  ravines,  in  caverns  and  rock  fissures. 
It  is  a  question  whether  these  are  not  the  aboriginal  "  Horites  " 
— which  is  the  very  word  used  here,  translated  "  Caves" — an  old 
race  of  savage  men,  several  times  alluded  to  in  Hebrew  history ; 
e.  g.,  Gen.  14:  6  and  36:  20  and  Deut.  2:  12,  22. Remark- 
ably, their   thoroughly  savage  nature  and  life  were  manifest  in 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXX.  159 

their  voice,  more  asinine  than   human ;    more  like  the   braying 

of  an  ass  than  the  melody  of  cultured  eloquence  or  music. 

Under  the  nettles  they  lie  s2)raiohd  out — this  being  more  true  to 

the   original   than  merely    "  gathered  together." In   v.  8  the 

last  clause  means,  "  they  were  beaten  [driven]  out  of  the  land," 
— too  mean,  too  low  and  vicious  to  be  tolerated  among  civilized 
J)eople. 

9.  And  now  am  I  their  song,  yea,  I  am  their  byword. 

10.  They  abhor  me,  they  flee  far  from  me,  and  spare  not  to 
spit  in  my  face. 

Even  such  men,  so  utterly  base  and  contemptible,  affect  to  despise 
and  abhor  me.  They  stand  aloof  from  me  as  if  fearing  some  con- 
tamination from  my  presence;  "  they  do  not  forbear  to  spit  before 
me" — this  being  without  question  the  sense  of  the  original.  But 
the  reader  should  remember  that  according  to  oriental  ideas,  to 
spit  in  another's  presence  was  no  less  insulting  than  to  spit  in  his 

face. Let  us  bear  in  mind  throughout  this  passage  that  Job 

measures  the  deep  dishonor  and  contempt  into  which  he  had  fallen 
among  men,  by  the  utter  abasement  of  these  savage  people  who 
affected  to  despise  him. 

11.  Because  he  hath  loosed  my  cord,  and  afflicted  me,  they 
have  also  let  loose  the  bridle  before  me. 

Here  we  must  read — not  my  "cord"  but  his,  referring  to  God 
who  is  thought  of  as  loosing  the  cord  which  had  restrained  him 
from  inflicting  the  scourge  upon  Job.  Because  God  had  applied 
the  dreadful  scourge  upon  his  servant  Job  with  apparently  no  re- 
straint and  almost  without  measure,  they  also  cast  off  their 
•restraining  bridle,  and  poured  their  contempt  on  Job  with  loose 
rein.  Job  means  to  say  that  they  felt  themselves  free  to  insult 
and  torment  him  because  they  supposed  him  to  be  stricken  and 
smitten  of  God. 

12.  Upon  viy  right  hand  rise  the  youth  ;  they  push  away 
my  feet,  and  they  raise  up  against  me  the  ways  of  their  de- 
struction. 

13.  They  mar  my  path,  they  set  forward  my  calamity, 
they  have  no  helper. 

The  word  "youth"  is  too  respectful  to  represent  the  Hebrew' 
which  has  here  none  of  its  usual  words  for  youth,  but  a  rare  term, 
better  translated  brood  or  herd — a  rabble.  Being  boys  in  years, 
they  ought  to  have  treated  the  aged  Job  with  deference  ;  but  in- 
stead, they  thrust  aside  his  feet—/,  e.,  to  trip  him  up  as  he  passed 
near  them.* "  Raising  against  him  their  ways  of  destruction," 

*Some  critics  however  take  the  clause  in  the  same  sense  as  in  Job 
24  :  4 — referring  it  to  one's  ri(/ht  path — to  the  enjoyment  of  his  rights. 
But  in  the  latter  sense,  we  always  have  a  difl'erent  verb  from  the 
one  here,  viz.,  (i^^^) 


160  THE  BOOK  OP  JOB. — CHAP.  XXX. 

borrows  its  terms  from  military  life — the  raising  of  mounds  from 
■which  to  assault  a  fortified  city.     The  sense — They  deliberately, 

industriously  contrive   to  abuse,    insult,    destroy   me. "  They 

break  up  my  path" — tear  up  the  ground  before  me — making  it 
rugged,  impassable.  They  help  on  my  utter  fall ;  there  is  none  to 
help  me  against  them — this  being  the  obvious  sense  of  the  last 
clause  of  v.  13. 

14.  They  came  upo7i  vie  as  a  wide  breaking  in  of  scalers ; 
in  the  desolation  they  rolled  themselves  ^qJon  me. 

15.  Terrors  are  turned  upon  me  :  they  pursue  my  soul  as 
the  wind  ;  and  my  welfare  passeth  away  as  a  cloud. 

They  rush  upon  me  with  insult  and  wrong  as  water-floods  rush 
through  a  yawning  crevasse  in  the  dyke.  They  come  upon  me  as 
such  floods  roll  on,  wave  upon  wave.  "  Terrors"  constitute  the 
tide  that  is  thus  turned  and  let  loose  upon  me.  They  chase  away 
my  dignity — ^my  princely  estate — even  as  a  wind-storm  drives  and 
beats  down  all  before  it.     My  prosperity  [salvation,  Heb.]  has 

passed  away  as  a  cloud  does. By  these  accumulated  figures  Job 

sets  forth  the  unutterable  desolation  that  has  come  over  him,  es- 
pecially in  the  contempt  heaped  upon  him  by  the  basest  of  men. 

It  is  remarkable  that  thus  far  in  this  chapter.  Job  does  not  put 
in  the  foreground  his  loss  of  property,  nor  of  children,  nor  even 
his  physical  sufferings;  but  prominently  and  almost  exclusively 
the  contempt  manifested  toward  him  by  the  lowest  specimens  of 
beings  called  human.  And  this  was  specially  afilictive  because  it 
suggested  and  even  reflected  back  upon  him  the  rebuke  of  the 
Almighty.  These  meanest  of  men  thought  the  ways  of  God  to- 
ward Job  justified  them  in  turning  upon  him  their  utmost  insult 
and  abuse. 

16.  And  now  my  soul  is  poured  out  upon  me  ;  the  days  of 
affliction  have  taken  hold  upon  me. 

17.  My  bones  are  pierced  in  me  in  the  night  season :  and 
my  sinews  take  no  rest. 

18.  By  the  great  force  of  my  disease  is  my  garment  changed  : 
it  bindeth  me  about  as  the  collar  of  my  coat. 

"  My  soul  poured  out  "  [not  112)011  but]  "  within  me  " — by  a 
figure  similar  to  that  in  22:  16;  "God  maketh  my  heart  *sqft ;" 
no  strength,  no  firmness  left  in  me.     Days  of  affliction  have  seized 

upon  me  and  hold  me  in  their  dreadful  grip. In  the  last  clause 

of  V.  17,  better  than  "  sinews"  is  the  word  gnawers — the  gnawing 

pains  eating  into  my  sensitive  nerves. In  v.  18-  "  my  garment  ' 

is  probably  his  skin,  thought  of  as  covering  his  tortured  nerves  as 
a  garment  does  the  body — his  skin  being  the  seat  of  his  disease. 

"  Changed,"  in  the  sense  of  disfigured  — this  form  of  the  verb 

being  used  in  the  sense  of  disguised — so  altered  in  appearance  as 
to  forbid  recognitioiK  This  skin,  shrivelled,  shrunk,  cracked — 
came  to  bind  him  about  as  a  close-fitting  tunic. 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXX.  IGl 

« 

19.  He  hatli  cast  nie  into  tlie  mire,  and  I  am  become  like 
dust  and  ashes. 

20.  I  cry  unto  thee,  and  thou  dost  not  hear  me  :  I  stand 
up,  and  thou  regardest  me  not. 

21.  Thou  art  become  cruel  tome:  with  thy  strong  hand 
thou  opposest  thyself  against  me. 

22.  Thou  liftest  me  up  to  the  wind  ;  thou  causest  me  to 
ride  tipon  it,  and  dissolvest  my  substance. 

Job  attributes  all  this  to  God's  immediate  agency.  Worst  of  all, 
when  1  cry  to  God,  he  does  not  hear :  I  stand  up  and  thou  seest 
me  [so  the  Hebrew],  yet  givest  me  no  answer — no  token  of  favor- 
ing recognition. (V.  22)  Thou  liftest  me  up  to  the  wind,  to  ex- 
pose me  to  its  utmost  violence,  and  dost  cause  me  to  be  borne 

away  on  its  rudest  blast. In  the  last  clause — not,  "dissolvest 

my  substance,"  but  causest  me  to  be  dissolved  in  the  crash  of  the 
tempest — utterly  broken  in  pieces,  powerless  to  resist  the  tornado 
of  thy  wrath. 

23.  For  I  know  that  thou  wilt  bring  me  to  death,  and  to 
the  house  appointed  for  all  living. 

24.  Howbeit  he  will  not  stretch  out  his  hand  to  the  grave, 
though  they  cry  in  his  destruction. 

Job  sees  death  near  and  certain  ;  and  (v.  24)  knows  that  then 
no  prayer  can  be  availing.  The  English  version  of  this  is  infe- 
licitous. Better  thus  :  Surely,  there  is  no  prayer  [to  purpose] 
when  he  [God]  stretcheth  forth  the  hand,  nor  is  any  cry  for  help 
possible  [or  availing]  for  them  when  He  destroys. 

25.  Did  not  I  weep  for  him  that  was  in  trouble  ?  was  not 
my  soul  grieved  for  the  poor  ? 

Is  it  supposable  that  Job  meant  to  put  his  own  compassion  in 
hearing  the  cry  of  the  suffering,  in  contrast  with  what  he  had  just 
before  said  of  God  ?  Or  does  he  allude  to  his  own  case  only  to  sug- 
gest how  strange  and  perplexing  the  ways  of  God  seemed  to  his 
view? Instead  of  the  interrogative  form,  the  strongly  affirma- 
tive better  expresses  the  original ; — Most  surely,  verily,  I  have 
wept  for  those  who  were  "  hai'd  of  day  " — having  a  hard  time. 
My  soul  sorrowed  for  the  poor. 

26.  When  I  looked  for  good,  then  evil  came  mito  me:  and 
when  I  waited  for  light,  there  came  darkness. 

27.  My  bowels  boiled,  and  rested  not :  the  days  of  afflic- 
tion prevented  me. 

28.  I  "went  mourning  without  the  sun :  I  stood  up,  and  I 
cried  in  the  congregation. 

29.  I  am  a  brother  to  dragons,  and  a  companion  to  owls. 

It  was  one  bitter  element  of  hia  great  sorrow  that  it  came  un- 
8 


162  THE   BOOK  OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXX. 

expectedly.  He  had  hoped — and  thought  he  might  reasonably  hope 
— that  a  life  devoted  to  "  fearing  God  and  eschewing  evil  "  would 

insure  him  peace  and  prosperity.     Why  not? But  now,  when 

he  looked  for  good,  there  came  evil. In  v.  27,  "  prevent"  needs 

the  modification  usual  thi-oughout  our  English  version,  to  the  sense 
anticipate — to  get  in  before  me  and  meet  me,  as  it  were,  in   the 

face. "I  went  mourning  without  the  sun  "—^should  rather  be — 

I  go  about  blackened,  yet  not  with  sun-heat ;  the  body  fearfully 
disfigured,  made  foul  with  disease.     Sun-heat  was  not  the  cause. 

"A  brother  to  jackalls" — cast  out  of    the  society  of   men, 

moaning  and  wailing  in  lonely  desolation  !     Alas  !  what  a  picture 

of  deep  and  crushing  grief! These  animals  were  well  known 

examples  of  sad,  jalaintive  outcries. 

30.  My  skin  is  black  upon  me,  and  my  bones  are  burned 
with  heat. 

31.  My  harp  also  is  turned   to    mourning,  and  my  organ 

into  the  voice  of"  them  that  weep. 

• 

A  fever-heat  consuming  his  bones — what  can  his  harp  and 
organ  give  forth  but  plaintive  notes  of  woe ! 

.  The  close  of  this  chapter  is  a  suitable  point  at  which  to  arrest 
the  special  exposition  of  detached  passages  and  give  our  thought 
a  moment  to  one  of  the  great  moral  lessons  of  the  book,  viz.,  The 
social  and  moral  bearings  of  the  doctrine  that  suffering  in  this  life 
710^  only  livesvpposes  sin,  but  accurately  measures  its  aggrava- 
tinn ;  inasmuch  as  good  or  evil,  sent  of  Ciod  in  his  providence, 
must  be  taken  as  blessing  or  curse,  adjusted  to  a  perfect  retribu- 
tion in  time.  Such,  we  have  seen,  Avas  the  doctrine  of  Job's  three 
friends — men  moving  in  the  highest  and  most  intelligent  social 
circles.  It  is  equally  manifest  in  the  Horites  described  in  this  chap- 
ter, moving  far  down  on  the  social  scale  in  the  lowest  barbarism. 

What  was  the  social  and  moral  influence  of  this  doctrine  as 
shown  in  their  treatment  of  Job  ? 

Taking  separately  these  two  extremes  of  society,  and  turning 
first  to  the  higher  class  represented  by  Job's  three  friends,  we 
take  them  to  be  men  who  fairly  represent  the  religious  class,  for 
else  they  would  not  have  been  numbered  among  JoIj's  special 
friends.  This  mistaken  view  of  God's  ways  in  providence  had 
the  effect  on  their  souls  of  drying  up  almost  the  last  drop  of 
human  sympathy.  They  felt  so  sure  that  Job  was  wicked,  even 
one  of  the  most  wicked  of  men,  that  they  felt  bound  to  push  thia 
conviction  of  theirs  persistently  upon  him;  to  charge  him  with 
crimes  all  unknown  to  his  life;  to  suppress  every  manifestation  of 
pity,  compassion  or  sympathy,  and  give  the  utmost  scope  to  what 
they  deemed  their  paramount  duty— viz.,  to  convict  him  of  crimes, 
though  he  had  never  committed  them — of  sins  as  to  which  he  w^as 
consciously  innocent,  and  to  make  him  believe,  if  they  could,  that 
his  unpi-ecedented  sufferings  Avere  God's  witnesses  to  prove  him 
the  chief  of  sinners      Miserable  comforters  were  they  all ! — for  no 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXI.  163 

other  men  aggravated  his  sufferincs  so  fearfully  as  they.  They 
conkl  torture  him  in  no  Avay  so  effectually  as  by  perpetually  push- 
ing liim  into  the  feeling  that  (iod  was  exposing  and  punishing 
some  great  sin  of  his. — Apparently  these  three  friends  were  too  good 
to  I)e  reached  by  envy  at  Job's  great  prosperity  and  the  consequent 
mean  gratification  of  their  own  selfishness  over  his  fall.  Those 
contemptible  savages,  depicted  in  this  chap.  30,  may  have  been 
open  to  such  feelings,  for  men  who  are  conscious  of  being  on  the 
lowest  plane  of  human  character  are  naturally  glad  to  .see  men  of 
high  social  position  and  of  the  finest  moral  character,  brought 
down.  But  we  will  not  suspect  that  any  views  of  this  sort  had 
poisoned  the  souls  of  these  old  friends  of  Job.  That  which  is  so 
repulsive  to  us  in  their  cold-hearted  philippics  upon  Job  must  be 
put  to  the  account  of  their  doctrine  of  providence  which  in  their 
view  compelled  them  to  infer  that  Job  was  only  a  vile  hypocrite, 
an  enemy  of  God,  a  monster  in  crime.  Ah,  they  had  not  heard 
the  Savior  of  men  expound  the  true  doctrine  in  answer  to  the 
question,  "  Who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he  was 
born  blind?''  (John  9:  2,  3);  or  in  both  asking  and  answering,  on 
another  occasion :  "  Suppose  ye  that  these  Galileans  were  sinners 
above  all  the  Galileans,  because  they  suffered  such  things?  I  tell 
you.  Nay,"  etc.,  (Luke  13  :  1-5). — Doubtless  we  may  conclude  that 
one  moral  purpose  to  be  answered  (incidentally)  by  this  book  of 
Job  was  to  throw  light  upon  the  terrible  mischiefs  of  thq-fiilse 
doctrine  held  by  Job's  friends.  If  that  doctrine  were  to  prevail, 
how  fearfully  would  Christian  sympathy  with  great  sufferers  be 
ruled  out  of  human  bosoms,  and  how  terribly  would  Christian 
fidelity  to  the  souls  of  the  suffering  be  perverted  to  their  insup- 
portable agony! 


CHA.PTER     XXXI. 

Conscious  of  innocence,  Job  imj^recaies  calamites  vjyon  liimself 
if  he  has  been  guilty  as  his  friends  had  charged. 

In  this  last  long  speech  of  Job,  he  very  properly  avers  his  inno- 
cence of  the  great  crimes  charged  upon  him  by  his  friends.  Some 
of  these  had  been  chai-ged  specifically  (e.  g.,  by  Eliphaz,  chap.  22); 
others  were  fully  implied  in  the  general  imputation  of  the  greatest 
and  most  scandalous  sins.  Naturally  the  sins  brought  out  in 
detail  here  are  those  in  worst  repute  in  that  oriental  society,  esti- 
mated by  the  standard  of  public  opinion  in  that  age  and  country. 
We  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  that  Job  makes  these  protes- 
tations of  innocence  as  in  the  presence  of  the  Great  Searcher  of 
hearts  whose  soul  is  too  pure  and  eye  too  keen  not  to  see  and  con- 
demn iniquity  (v.  2-4).  The  strain  of  the  chapter  in  general  is 
that  of  specifying  great  sins  and  then  affirming  himself  innocent 


164  •  THE   BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.  XXXT. 

of  them — imprecating  on  himself  the  extrcmest  judgments  if  he 
has  been  guilty. 

1.  I  made  a  covenant  with  mine  eyes  ;  why  then  should  I 
think  upon  a  maid  ? 

This  fii'st  verse  stands  by  itself,  giving  a  specimen  of  the  habit 
of  his  godly  life  as  a  man  who  "  eschewed  evil."  He  guarded  his 
soul  carefully,  vigilantly,  against  the  approaclies  of  temptation. 
He  made  a  covenant  with  his  eyes  that  they  should  not  become  a 
snare  to  seduce  him  toward  sin. 

2.  For  wdiat  portion  of  God  is  there  from  above?  and  ivliat 
inheritance  of  the  Ahniglity  from  on  higli  ? 

3.  Is  not  destruction  to  the  wicked  ?  and  a  strange  punish- 
ment to  the  workers  of  iniquity? 

4.  Doth  not  he  see  my  ways,  and  count  all  my  steps  ? 

"Portion  of  the  Almighty"  must  not  be  understood  to  mean  a 
part  of  him,  but  an  allotment  or  award  made  by  him  and  coming 
upon  men  from  him.  So  the  second  and  parallel  clause  means, 
an  inheritance  from  and  by  him  as  the  wages  of  sin.  Is  not  this 
allotment  from  the  Almighty  one  of  destruction  to  the  wicked — of 
calamity — appalling,  overwhelming — upon  -the  workers  of  in- 
iqui^? — and  coming,  moreover,  from  One  who  sees  all  my  waj's? 

Thus  in  the  very  opening  of  this  chapter.  Job  expresses  his 

deep  conviction  that  God's  justice  insures  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked,  and  that  his  omniscience  renders  all  concealment  and 
evasion  utterly  and  forever  impossible. 

5.  If  I  have  walked  with  vanity,  or  if  my  foot  hath  hasted 
to  deceit ; 

6.  Let  me  be  weighed  in  an  even  bahince,  that  God  may 
know  mine  integrity. 

If  my  life  has  been  a  lie,  swerving  frota  truth  and  living  false- 
hood and  deceit,  He  will  weigh  me  in  scales  of  justice  (so  the 
Hebrew  has  it),  and  God  will  know  my  innocence.  This  transla- 
tion is  shaped  closely  to  the  original.  I  take  it  therefore  to  ex- 
press Job's  solemn  confidence  that  his  general  integrity  of  life 
would  abide  the  scrutiny  of  God  ;  and  that  the  charge  of  hypocrisy 
and  of  a  false,  deceitful  life,  could  not  stand. 

7.  If  my  step  hath  turned  out  of  the  way,  and  mine  heart 
walked  after  mine  eyes,  and  if  any  blot  hath  cleaved  to  mine 
hands ; 

8.  TJien  let  me  sow,  and  let  another  eat ;  yea,  let  my  off- 
sjiring  be  rooted  out. 

"If  my  steps  have  deflected"  (this  Heb.  verb  always  in  a  bad 
sense)  "from  the  way" — i.  e.,  the  right  way  (the  Heb.  article 
implying  this)  the  only  fit  way;  and  if  my  heart  has  gone  after  my 


THE    BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXI.  165 

eyes  (see  v.  1) — the  eye  seducing  the  heart;  then  let  my  harvests 
be  for  others  to  eat;  let  my  crops  (products  of  my  planting)  be 
torn  up  by  the  roots — the  thought  being  not  of  offspring  in  the 
sense  of  claildren  but  of  vegetable  growths  that  others  might  root 
up. 

9.  If  mine  heart  have  been  deceived  by  a  -woman,  or  if 
I  have  laid  wait  at  my  neighbor's  door ; 

10.  Then  let  my  wife  grind  unto  another,  and  let  others 
bow  down  upon  her. 

11.  For  this  is  a  heinous  crime  ;  yea,  it  is  an  iniquity  to  be 
2yu)mhed  by  the  judges. 

12.  For  it  i?  a  fire  that  consumeth  to  destruction,  and 
would  root  out  all  my  increase. 

If  my  heart  hath  been  enticed  toward  woman,  and  I  have  been 
an  adulterer,  let  my  own  wife  become  the  menial  slave  of  another, 
to  grind  at  his  hand-mill  (the  service  assigned  to  the  lowest  slave), 
and  let  her  be  another's  concubine.  For  this  is  a  heinous  crime, 
the  Heb.  word  involving  the  element  of  purpose,  thought,  plotting; 
and  therefore  more  flagrant  than  sins  of  inadvertence  or  of  sudden 
impulse.-— — A  crime  for  the  judges,  i.  e.,  to  take  cognizance  of, 
and  to  punish — evincing  a  somewhat  advanced  stage  of  civiliza- 
tion.  Moreover,  this  is  a  sin  of  terrible  power  for  mischief,  one 

that  devours  even  to  the  bottomless  pit — ruins  the  sinner,  soul  and 
body.  Noticeably,  Solomon  bears  the  same  testimony  to  the  ag- 
gravation of  this  sin  and  to  its  sure,  swift,  terrible  mischiefs, 
(Prov.  6 :  24-35). 

13.  If  I  did  despise  the  cause  of  my  man-servant  or  of  my 
maid-servant,  w'hen  they  contended  Avith  me ; 

14.  What  then  shall  I  do  when  God  riseth  up?  and  when 
he  visiteth,  what  shall  I  answer  him  ? 

15.  Did  not  he  that  made  me  in  the  womb  make  him? 
and  did  not  one  fashion  us  in  the  womb? 

Noble  sentiments,  forcibly  put!  How  deep  and  how  just  is  Job's 
conviction  that  God  befriends  the  defenseless  poor,  and  will  surely 
arouse  himself  to  vindicate  their  cause  and  bring  retribution  on 
their  oppressors  !  Is  not  lie  the  Father  of  the  servant  as  truly  as 
of  his  master  ?  Did  not  One — i.  e.,  the  one  only  God  and  Father  of 
all — fashion  us  all  before  our  birth  ? 

16.  If  I  have  withheld  the  poor  from  their  desire,  or  have 
caused  the  eyes  of  the  widow  to  fail ; 

17.  Or  have  eaten  my  morsel  myself  alone,  and  the  father- 
less hath  not  eaten  thereof; 

18.  (For  from  my  youth  he  Avas  brought  up  Avith  me,  as 
with  a  father,  and  I  have  guided  her  from  my  mother's 
Avomb ;  ) 


166         •     THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXI. 

"  Caused  the  eyes  of  the  widow  to  fail," — literally  to  consume 
away  as  with  hopeless  tears  and  bitter  grief  If  I  have  been  reck- 
less as  to  the  rights  of  hospitality  and  as  to  the  claims  of  the 
fatherless,  the  orphan,  otherwise  destitute.  Fi-om  his  early 
youth ; — he  might  say  even  from  his  mother's  womb,  he  had  been 
brought  up  with  poor  orphans  by  his  side,  fed  from  the  same  table. 

The  sweet  charities  that  reached  and  blessed  the  dependent 

classes  in  those  days  were  individual  and  personal,  and  not  as  is 
largely  the  case  in  our  times,  administered  through  "  Asylums  for 
the  orphan"  and  "  Homes  for  the  friendless."  Men  of  large  means 
and  large  hearts  also  are  represented  by  Job  as  shown  here — ex- 
ceedingly to  their  honor  and  richly  to  the  culture  of  genuine 
benevolence. 

19.  If  I  have  seen  any  perish  for  want  of  clothing,  or  any 
poor  without  covering ; 

20.  If  his  loins  have  not  blessed  me,  and  ?/ he  were  not 
Avarined  with  the  fleece  of  my  sheep  ; 

21.  If  I  have  lifted  up  my  hand  against  the  fatherless, 
when  I  saw  my  help  in  the  gate; 

22.  Then  let  mine  arm  fall  from  my  shoulder-blade,  and 
mine  arm  be  broken  from  the  bone. 

23.  For  destruction /ro3?i  God  was  a  terror  to  me,  and  by 
reason  of  his  highness  I  could  not  endure. 

Not  food  only  and  home  did  Job  supply  to  the  needy,  but  cloth- 
ing.— "If  his  loins  have  not  blessed  me"  for  the  comfort  of  warm 
clothing — as  if  his  loins  were  themselves  intelligently  conscious 
and  grateful. — "When  I  saw  my  help  in  the  gate" — my  helper, 
one  who  could  help  me  carry  my  suit  against  them  in  the  court 
["gate"].  If  when  I  had  a  legal  advantage  and  might  have  car- 
ried my  case  against  them,  I  pushed  my  claim,  contrary  to  the 
law  of  kindness  and  benevolence;  then  let  my  arm  drop  from  my 
shoulder-blade,  etc.  For  how  could  1  endure  the  destruction  God 
would  senTl  upon  me  for  such  inhumanity  ? — The  last  clause 
better  thus: — "Before  his  luajesty,  I  cotild  not;  I  should  be 
powerless  ! 

24.  If  I  have  made  gold  my  hope,  or  have  said  to  the  fine 
gold,  Thou  art  my  confidence  ; 

25.  If  I  rejoiced  because  my  wealth  uns  great,  and  because 
mine  hand  had  gotten  much  ; 

To  make  gold  one's  idol-god  and  large  wealth  the  real  trust 
of  the  heart,  is  but  too  often  the  besetting  sin  of  the  prosperous 
Job  avers  his  innocence  of  this  sin. 

26.  If  I  beheld  the  sun  when  it  shined,  or  the  moon  walk- 
ing in  brightness  ; 

27.  And  my  heart  hath  been  secretly  enticed,  or  my 
mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand ; 


THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XXXI.  167 

28.  This  also  were  an  iniquity  to  he  punished  by  the  judge ; 
for  I  should  have  denied  the  God  that  is  above. 

This  is  the  earliest  known  form  of  idolatry — the  worship  of  the 
heavenly  bodies. — "My  mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand" — is  not 
exactly  accurate,  the  Hebrew  being — "If  my  hand  hath  gently 
touched  my  mouth" — after  which  the  hand  was  waved  toward  the 

distant  object,  as  if  to  pass  up  the  kiss  as  an  act  of  worship. 

This  form  of  idolatry  was  a  civil  crime,  punishable  at  law;  and 
moreover,  would  involve  really  a  denial  of  God's  supreme  and 
exclusive  right  to  the  homage  of  his  intelligent  creatures.  Both 
points  go  far  to  prove  in  Job's  age  and  country  a  very  consider- 
able knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  of  the  obligations  of  men  to 
worship  and  serve  Him,    and  Him  only. 

29.  If  I  rejoiced  at  the  destruction  of  him  that  hated  me, 
or  lifted  up  myself  when  evil  found  him  ; 

30.  (Neither  have  I  suffered  my  mouth  to  sin  by  wishing 
a  curse  to  his  soul.) 

To  this  sin  of  the  heart,  as  opposed  to  sins  of  external  act,  t"here 
are  subtle  temptations  —  so  subtle  that  few  altogether  escape 
them. — "Lifted  up  myself,"  elated  arid  glad,  perhaps  boastful, 
when  evil  befell  him. — "  By  wishing  a  curse,"  is  rather,  by  asking, 
Avith  cursing,  for  his  life,  i.  e.,  by  imprecations  against  his  life. 

The  reader  will  notice  that  throughout  a  somewhat  extended 
passage,  beginning  here  and  continuing  to  v.  34,  the  sense  is  sus- 
pended— Job  saying.  If  I  Have  done  this ;  if  I  have  done  that, 
etc., — till  at  length  (v.  34)  we  find  the  curse  which,  if  guilty,  he 
imprecates  upon  himself. 

31.  If  the  men  of  my  tabernacle  said  not,  Oh  that  we  had 
of  his  flesh !  we  can  not  be  satisfied. 

32.  The  stranger  did  not  lodge  in  the  street :  but  I  opened 
my  doors  to  the  traveler. 

In  V.  31  our  English  version  not  only  fails  to  give  the  sense 
well,  but  really  gives  the  very  opposite  of  what  Job  said.  Accord- 
ing to  our  English,  the  men  of  Job's  tent  did  say — "Oh  that  we 
had  some  of  his  flesh  to  eat !  We  famish  and  can  not  have  enough" — 
wdiich  would  have  been  a  flagrant  violation,  not  of  the  law  of 
kindness  only,  but  of  justice.  Wiiat  Job  really  said  was  this: 
The  men  of  my  tent  say — Who  will  give  [or  produce]  one,  not 
satisfied  to  the  full  Avith  his  flesh  ?  They  challenge  the  world  to 
produce  a  man  who,  being  present  there,  has  not  been  ami)ly  fed 
at  Job's  table.  "The  men  of  his  tent"  were  his  servants,  Avaiting 
upon  Ills  guests.     They  could  speak  from  personal  knoAvledge.        < 

33.  If  I  covered  my  transgressions  as  Adam,  by  hiding 
mine  iniquity  in  my  bosom  : 

According  to  the  history  in  Gen.  3,  Adam  was  an  illustratiA'e 
case  of  covering  sin  in  these  several  respects: — that  he  did  not 


168  THE  BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.  XXXI. 

confess  the  fact  till  forced  to  it;  that  he  sought  to  cover  his  guilt 
by  apologies  and  self-vindications;  and  sought  to  hide  himself 
personally  from  the  eye  of  his  Maker — all  these  efforts  being  alike 
futile  and  foolish,  as  all  attempts  to  cover  sin  from  the  eye  of  God 
must  always  be.  Job  had  been  boldly  and  persistently  charged 
vrith  hypocrisy.  It  was  therefore  pertinent  to  his  case  to  place 
this  on  the  list  of  sins  of  which  he  was  not  guilty. 

34.  Did  I  fear  a  great  multitude,  or  did  the  contempt  of 
families  terrify  me,  that  I  kept  silence,  a7id  went  not  out  of 
the  door  ? 

The  English  version  here  is  specially  infelicitous  in  many 
respects.  The  Hebrew  gives  no  authority  for  putting  the  verse 
in  the  form  of  a  question.  It  is  by  no  means  clear  how  "  keeping 
silence"  and  "  not  going  forth  from  his  door"  because  he  was 
"  afraid  of  a  great  multitude,"  should  be  a  sin.     This  translation 

fails  therefore  to  make  any  proper  sense. The  clew  to  its  real 

significance  lies  in  making  it  what  grammarians  call  the  apodosis 
of  the  sentence.  In  this  case,  the  sentence  is  long,  beginning  as 
far  back  as  v.  29.  From  that  point  onward  to  this  verse  34,  the 
sense  has  been  suspended:  Ifl  rejoiced  over  my  enemy's  fall;  if 
the  men  of  my  tent  have  not  had  occasion  to  say  that  never  a 
stranger  failed  of  bread  in  Job's  house;  if\  have  covered  my  sin 
as  Adam — then  what  ?  Something  must  be  put  as  the  curse  im- 
pi'ecated  upon  himself  if  these  sins  should  be  proven  upon  him. 
What  is  this  something  ?  What  is  the  counterpart  [apodosis]  of 
this  long  sentence.? — It  is  found  in  this  verse — which  should  com- 
mence: Then,  in  that  case,  let  me  dread  [tremble  before]  the 
great  assembly :  let  the  contempt  of  whole  tribes  confound  me ; 
let  me  be  duui):),  nor  venture  forth  from  my  door  [for  shame]  ! — 
So  read,  the  verse  amounts  to  a  terrible  imprecation.  Let  the 
most  public  disgrace  overwhelm  me!  Let  me  be  forced  to  slink 
away  from  the  public  eye  and  never  show  my  face  again ! 

35.  Oh  that  one  Avould  hear  me  !  behold,  my  desire  is, 
that  the  Almighty  would  answer  me,  and  that  mine  adversary 
had  written  a  book. 

36.  Surely  I  would  take  it  upon  my  shoulder,  and  bind  it 
a,s  a  crown  to  me. 

37.  I  would  declare  unto  him  the  number  of  my  steps;  as 
a  prince  would  I  go  near  unto  him. 

In  previous  speeches  Job  had  passionately  invoked  a  hearing  be- 
fore God;  (e.  g.,  chap.  13:  3,  19-24)  "Surely,  I  would  speak  to 
the  Almighty,  and  I  desire  to  reason  with  God.  Call  thou,  and  I 
will  answer ;  or  let  me  speak,  and  answer  thou  me."  Here,  in 
language  borrowed  from  the  forms  in  human  tribunals,  he  repeats 
the  same  request:  "Oh,  that  there  were  some  one  to  hear  me!  " 
"  Behold  my  sign  " — or  mark  I  So  the  word  translated  "  desire  " 
should  be  put.     This  sign  of  the  cross  (■J*)  was  equivalent  to  the 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXXI.  169 

signature  of  his  name,  and  in  this  connection  it  implied  that  he 
had  put  his  case  in  writing  and  now  indorsed  it  and  would 
stand  to  it  before  the  court. He  proceeds:  "Let  the  Al- 
mighty answer  me;  let  my  legal  opponent  (literally,  the  one 
who  is  to  plead  against  me)  put  his  charge  in  Avriting."  The 
sense  is  not  by  any  means  that  he  wishes  his  adversary  Avere 
an  author  that  he  might  (forsooth)  have  the  license  of  a  critic  to 
review  and  scathe  him !  Far  enough  from  that  is  the  sense  here. 
Oh,  that  he  would  put  his  charge  in  icriting ;  then  if\  would 
not  take  it  upon  my  shoulder  and  bind  it  upon  my  head  as  a 
crown !  The  whole  number  of  my  steps  (all  my  moral  conduct)  I 
would  put  before  him  ;  I  Avould  come  near  him  like  a  prince.  I 
should  not  shrink  away  abashed  under  conscious  guilt;  nay, 
verily :  but  I  would  meet  him  fearlessly  and  challenge  the  fullest 
investigation.— — A  stronger  assertion  of  substantial  innocence 
of  the  grievous  charges  brought  against  him  by  his  opponents, 
Job  could  not  have  made.  He  declares  himself  ready  for  an  in- 
vestigation before  the  Infinite  God  ! 

38.  If  my  land  cry  against  me,  or  that  the  furrows  like- 
wise thereof  complain ; 

39.  If  I  have  eaten  the  fruits  thereof  without  money,  or 
have  caused  the  owners  thereof  to  lose  their  life : 

40.  Let  thistles  grow  instead  of  wheat,  and  cockle  instead 
of  barley.     The  words  of  Job  are  ended. 

One  more  sin  is  named  here,  in  the  same  hypothetical  w^ay:  If 
I  have  been  guilty  of  this,  let  the  proper  retribution   come  upon 

me  in  the  line   of  my  sin. The  sin  is  that  of  defrauding  his 

tenants  and  withholding  the  wages  of  his  farm-laborers.  Re- 
markably he  thinks  of  the  land  itself  as  remonstrating  against 
such  oppression  and  the  very  furrows  as  weeping  in  sympathy 
with  the  wronged  laborers.  "If  my  land  cry  out  against  me  " — a 
witness  pained  and  horrified  by  my  crimes;  "  and  all  its  furrows 
weep  "  (the  literal  sense  of  the  Hebrew) ;  "  If  I  have  eaten  the 
strength  {i.  e.,  the  products)  of  my  land  without  paying 
my  laborers  honorably ;  if  I  have  made  its  tenants  sigh  [or 
breathe]  out  their  life — («'.  e.,)  under  the  wrong,  or  perhaps  the 
pinching  want,  of  my  oppressive  hand ; — then  let  thistles  come 
forth  of  it  instead  of  wheat,  and  weeds,  worthless  and  even 
noxious,  instead  of  barley. 

And  so  Job  rested  his  defense. If  we  construe  his  vindica- 
tion strictly  within  the  limits  of  the  charges  brought  against  him 
by  his  three  friends,  understanding  him  to  deny  what  they  alleged 
and  no  more,  we  shall  find  ample  ground  for  his  justification. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  give  his  words  a  far  broader  ap- 
plication and  suppose  him  to  have  claimed  entire  sinlessness  as 
before  and  toward  God,  we  must  find  judgment  against  him  and 
condemn  not  his  rashness  only,  but  his  very  shallow  self-knowledge 
and  sadly  inadequate  sense  of  the  purity  of  God's  law  and  of  the 


170  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXXII. 

holiness   of   his   Maker. It  deserves    careful  notice   that   the 

whole  attitude  and  argument  of  his  opponents  pushed  him 
violently  into  self-vindication,  and  made  his  temptation  in  this  line 
strong — perhaps  resistless.  His  feelings  became  too  excited  for 
the  calm  discrimination  which  the  case  demanded.  The  golden 
mean  would  have  been  reached,  if  while  he  calmly  rebutted  the 
cruel  and  unfounded  charges  brought  against  him,  he  had  also 
humbly  acknowledged  himself  very  far  from  absolute  purity  as 
toward  his  Infinite  Maker.  In  the  final  result,  he  became  deeply, 
thoroughly  humbled  before  God,  and  then  was  graciously  accepted. 

In  his  whole  bearing  throughout  the  discussion  he  was  far 

less  culpable  and  less  wide  from  the  line  of  rectitude,  than  his 
friends  were. 

For  their  severity  and  their  groundless  allegations  against  Job,  the 
Lord  had  no  apology,  but  demanded  of  them  most  humble  con- 
fession, and  sent  them  to  Job  to  ask  his  prayers  in  their  behalf. 
The  final  result,  as  we  shall  see,  Avas  a  strong  showing  of  the  perni- 
cious influence  of  their  mistaken  doctrine  in  respect  to  God's  moral 
administration  of  good  and  evil  as  to  men,  but  especially  toward 
pious  men  in  the  present  life. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

Eliliu  Appears. 

A  new  and  noticeable  feature  of  this  book  next  invites  atten- 
tion— the  introduction  of  a  young  man — a  fifth  personage  in  this 
drama — who  appears  as  a  sort  of  umpire  in  the  great  controversy 
between  Job  and  his  three  friends.  No  notice  of  him  has  ap- 
peared in  the  book  till  this  moment;  yet  he  has  been  present  from 
the  beginning,  and  has  listened  carefully  to  all  that  has  been  said 
on  both  sides.  When  he  saw  that  the  discussion  had  run  its 
course ;  that  the  three  friends  had  retired  from  the  contest,  aj^pa- 
rently  in  despair  of  bringing  Job  to  their  views  of  his  case,  and 
that  Job  had  finished  his  defense,  his  soul  was  mightily  stirred 
within  him,  and  he  broke  his  long  silence,  as  we  shall  see. 

It  is  a  somewhat  grave  question  what  part  Elihu  was  expected 
to  bear  in  this  drama ;  and  what  ultimate  ends  were  to  be  answered 
by  his  introduction  and  his  long  speech.  As  bearing  on  this  ques- 
tion, it  should  be  remembered  that  in  the  final  decision  of  the 
case  by  the  Lord  himself  (chap.  38-42)  no  allusion  whatever  is 
made  to  this  young  man  or  to  his  part  in  thq  discussion.  The 
Lord  replied  to  Job;  he  also  gave  his  opinion  as  to  Job's  three 
friends,  but  was  silent  as  to  Elihu.  Whether  he  approved  or  dis- 
approved of  Elihu's  doctrine,  no  hint  is  given, These  points 


THE    BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XXXIT.  171 

will  be  resumed  after  avc  have  read  his  speech,  when  we  shall  ]>e 
in  better  position  to  take  in  all  its  relations  and  bearini^s. 

Another  remarkable  fact  in  the  case  is  tliat  the  part  ot"  umpire, 
on  the  humnn  side  of  this  controversy,  should  be  assig;ned  to  a 
yoiincj — ^I'athcr  than  to  an  aged  man.  Ordinarily  the  fathers  are 
relied  on  for  sound  wisdom,  cool-headed  judgment,  the  absence  of 
prejudice  and  the  judicious  application  of  principles  long  time 
profoundly  weighed  in  the  light  of  the  observed  facts  of  human 
life.  How  happens  it  then  that  here,  the  youngest  man  of  the 
party  is  reserved,  or,  shall  we  say,  reserves  himself,  for  the  last 
word — the  candid  review  of  the  whole  discussion — to  point  out  the 
failure  of  the  three  more  aged  disputants  and  to  indicate  to  Job 
his  sense  of  the  very  exceptionable  thinjis  in  his  defense?  Was 
the  choice  of  Elihu,  the  youngest  man  of  the  group,  for  this  serv- 
ice, purposely  suggestive  that  the  age  was  one  of  progress  ;  that 
better  views  of  the  great  questions  at  issue  were  breaking  in  upon 
the  minds  of  men,  which  better  views,  though   scarcely  accepted 

by  the   aged,  were  yet   molding  the  thought  of  the   young? 

There  can,  I  judge,  be  no  doubt  that  the  human  mind  was  then  mov- 
ing forward  to  justcr  views  of  the  great  problem  of  this  book — 
the  ways  of  God  in  providence  as  related  both  to  moral  discipline 
and  to  righteous  retribution  in  the  present  life  ;  and  also  on  an- 
other point  incidentally  involved,  i.  e.,  the  true  grounds  for  sub- 
mission to  God's  will  and  for  trust,  despite  of  the  impenetrable 
darkness  of  his  dispensations.  Whether  the  assignment  of  the 
part  he  bore  to  Elihu  was  designed  to  be  suggestive  of  the  march 
of  public  opinion  on  these  great  problems,  is  a  question  worthy 
of  consideration — open  however  to  every  man's  own  inquiries  and 
conclusions.  We  shall  at  least  deem  it  in  place  to  scan  the  doctrines 
of  this  young  man  very  closely  and  note  in  what  respects  they  are 
really  in  advance  of  what  had  been  said  on  either  side  before. 

In  this  book  Elihu  tills  six  chapters  (32-37).  Chap.  32  is 
throughout  introductory  :  first,  an  historical  introduction  Ijy  the 
compiler  of  the  book  (v.  1-5)  :  next,  Elihu's  introduction  of  him- 
self, in  which  he  bears  at  least  the  appearance  of  true  modesty, 
apologizing  quite  sufficiently  for  what  might  be  deemed  an  intru- 
sion of  himself — so  young  a  man — into  a  discussion  held  between 
men  much  his  seniors  in  age.  "Jliis  great  deference  to  that  beautiful 
sentiment  of  the  orientals  which  instinctively  does  so  much  honor 
to  age,  we  may  perhaps  enjoy  the  more  because  its  ])eauty  and  glory 
have  grown  dim — not  to  say,  have  so  far  faded  out  among  Amer- 
icans of  the  nineteenth  century. 

1.  So  these  three  men  ceased  to  answer  Job,  becaxise  he 
u'as  righteous  in  bis  own  eyes. 

2.  Then  was  kindled  the  wrath  of  Elihu  tlie  son  of  Bara- 
chel  the  Buzite,  of  the"  kindred  of  Ram  :  against  Job.  was 
his  wrath  kindled,  because  he  justified  himself  rather  than 
God. 


172  THE   BOOK    OF   JOB, — CHAP.  XXXII. 

3.  Also  against  liis  three  friends  was  his  wrath  kindled, 
because  they  had  found  no  answer,  and  yet  had  condemned  Job. 

4.  Now  Elihu  had  waited  till  Job  had  spoken,  because  they 
ivere  elder  than  he. 

5.  When  Elihu  saw  that  tJiere  was  no  answer  in  the  mouth 
of  tJiese  three  men,  then  his  wrath  was  kindled. 

Buz,  from  -whom  comes  the  tribal  name  "  the  Buzite,"  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  son  of  Nahor,  and  thus  a  nephew  of  Abra- 
ham ;  also  a  brother  of  Uz  who  gave  name  to  the  country  in  which 
•Job  lived.  (See  Gen.  22:  21).  Hoio  remote  an  ancestry  is  not 
indicated,  so  that  we  miss  the  definite  data  we  should  gladly  find 

for  the  chronological  place  of  these  events. His  probable  descent 

from  Nahor  suggests  another  line  of  inquiry: — Was  he  not  from 
Mesopotamia  rather  than  (like  some  or  all  the  other  disputants) 
from  Edom  and  great  Arabia — ?'.  e.,  from  the  country  where  Abram 
first  made  his  acquaintance  with  the  true  God,  and  Avhere  more 
light  of  revelation  had  shined  than  in  any  other  region  of  the 
East?  Is  it  not  therefore  supposable  that  on  the  score  of  both 
ancestry  and  early  residence,  he  may  represent  an  advanced  doc- 
trine as  to  God  and  his  providential  administration? 

"  His  anger  kindled  "  should  not  suggest  to  our  thought  any 
malign  passion — a  man  mad ;  but  only  a  mind  warmly  excited, 
thoroughly  stirred  up  under  the  conviction  of  a  service  to  perform  ; 
words  to  speak  which  the  exigencies  earnestly  demanded.  He 
was  deeply  moved,  to  see  that  Job  pushed  his  self  defense  to  the 
extreme  appai-ently  of  implicating  God  as  unrighteous,  by  repre- 
senting himself  as   injured,  wronged,  by  his   Maker. Toward 

the  three  friends  his  soul  was  stirred  because  they  had  so  mani- 
festly failed  to  convict  Job,  and  yet  persisted  in  condemning  him. 

6.  And  Elihu  the  son  of  Barachel  the  Buzite  answered 
and  said,  I  am  young,  and  ye  are  very  old  ;  wherefore  I  was 
afraid,  and  durst  not  shew  you  mine  opinion. 

7.  I  said,  Days  should  speak,  and  multitude  of  years  should 
teach  wisdom. 

8.  But  there  is  a  spirit  in  man :  and  the  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty  giveth  them  understanding, 

9.  Great  men  are  not  alurtys  wise  :  neither  do  the  aged 
understand  judgment. 

Bemg  so  much  younger  than  ye  all,  I  said — "  Days  should 
speak;"  let  youth  be  silent.  But  there  is  a  limit  to  this  law.  Its 
claims  may  be  pushed  beyond  reason;  for  verily,  there  is  a  meas- 
ure of  divine  inspiration  accorded  to  man.  God  has  given  him 
capabilities  for  thought,  observation,  knowledge,  wisdom ;  and 
these  sublime  gifts  (he  would  suggest)  may  be  granted  to  the  young 
and  developed  in  the  early  stages  of  human  life.  Knowledge  and 
wisdom  are  not  always  to  be  measured  by  years  or  by  social  po- 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXXII.  173 

sition.  Not  all  great  men  arc  wise  ;  not  all  the  aged  stand  above 
other  men  in  understanding. 

10.  Therefore  I  said,  Hearken  to  me ;  I  also  will  shew 
mine  opinion. 

11.  Behold,  I  waited  for  yonr  words  ;  I  gave  ear  to  your 
reasons,  whilst  ye  searched  out  what  to  say. 

12.  Yea,  I  attended  unto  you,  and  behold,  tJiere  rvas  none 
of  you  that  convinced  Job,  or  that  answered  his  words : 

The  clause — "  I  also  will  show  my  opinion,"  falls  short  of  the 
original  in  the  degree  of  emphasis  upon  the  word  "  I."  Elihu 
said  what  is  fully  equivalent  to  this  :   "  I  also,  even   /,  Avill  show, 

etc. After  the  most  careful  attention  to  the  discussion  even  to 

.its  close,  Elihu  saw  that  the  three  disputants  had  neither  con- 
vinced Job  of  his  sin,  nor  answered  his  arguments.  In  both  these 
respects  they  had  made  a  signal  failure.  In  the  line  of  convinc- 
ing Job  of  his  sin,  they  attempted  quite  too  much,  and  hence  their 
efforts  reacted.  They  only  grieved  without  persuading  ;  offended 
without  convicting.  As  to  meeting  and  answering  his  arguments, 
they  made  either  feeble  attempts,  or  none  at  all. 

13.  Lest  ye  should  say,  We  have  found  out  wisdom  :  God 
thrusteth  him  doAvn,  not  man. 

This  somewhat  obscure  verse  may  admit  either  of  these  two 
constructions,  each  of  which  assumes  that  Job's  three  friends  are 
addressed : — (a)  Say  not — We  have  found  out  wisdom ;  and 
since  we  have  failed  [to  convince  Job],  it  is  certain  that  not  man 
but  God  must  cast  him  down  ;  demolish  his  argunjents  and  con- 
vince his  stubborn  soul.  Or  (b)  Your  failure  is  ordained  of  God, 
"  lest  ye  should  say.  We  have  found   out  all  wisdom,  and  that  ye 

may  know  that  not  man  but  God  must  cast  Job  down." Thedif 

ference  between  the  two  lies  mainly  in  this — that  the  latter  looks 
back  of  the  human  act  to  God's  purpose  in  permitting  or  ordain- 
ing it ;  the  former  puts  the  case  as  an  admonition  by  the  speaker; 
and  leaves  it  there.* 

14.  Now  he  hath  not  directed  his  words  against  me: 
neither  will  I  answer  him  with  your  speeches. 

Elihu  would  be  understood  to  be  impartial,  not  entering  upon 
this  discussion  with  personal  feelings.  Job  has  not  attacked  me: 
I  am  not  incited  in  a  partisan  spirit  to  defend  myself.  I  do  not 
propose  to  reply  to  him  as  ye  have  done. 

15.  They  were  amazed,  they  answered  no  more  :  they  left 
off  speaking. 

*  Beyond  question  the  Hebrew  word  ( J3),  the  first  in  this  verse, 
usually  means  "lest."  The  lexicons  hold  that  in  the  beginning  of  a 
sentence  it  may  simply  prohibit; — Fuerst  say.s  of  this  case,  "Cau- 
tiously prohibit." 


174  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXXIII. 

IG.  When  I  liad  waited,  for  they  spake  not,  but  stood  still, 
and  answered  no  more, 

17.  I  said,  I  will  answer  also  my  part;  I  also  will  shew  my 
opinion. 

In  the  last  clause  of  v.  15,  the  Hebrew  is  in  this  strong  form  : 
Words  icere  removed  far  away  from  them  ;  they  could  get  hold 

of  nothing  more  to  say. V.  17  (like  v.  10  above,  only  more  so,) 

makes  the  word"/"  intensely  emphatic  :  "I  will  answer,  even 
/;    I,  yea  even  I,  will  show  my  opinion. 

18.  For  I  am  full   of  matter;  the  spirit  within  me  con- 
straineth  me. 

19.  Behold,  my  belly  is  as  wine  ivhicli  hath  no  vent;  it  is 
ready  to  burst  like  new  bottles. 

20.  I  will  speak,  that  I  may  be  refreshed :  I  will  open  my 
lips  and  answer. 

"Full  of  matter"  is,  strictly,  full  o?  words. The  orientals 

made  very  free  use  of  their  words  "  belly,"  "  bowels,"  as  the  seat 
of   emotion   and   even   of  thought,  as  we  use   the  words   heart, 

breast,  bosom. My  belly  is   like  a  wine  vessel  that  can   not 

breathe  [Heb.] — can  not  throw  off  its  accumulating  gases — as 
new  bottles  that  are  bursting.  Hence  he  naturally  says.  Let  me 
speak  that  I. may  relieve  myself.  "Let  me"  (rather  than  "I 
will'')  gives  the  precise  shade  of  the  original. 

21.  Let  me  not,  I  pray  you,  accept  any  man's  person ; 
neither  let  me  give  flattering  titles  unto  man. 

22.  For  I  know  not  to  give  flattering  titles ;  in  so  doing,  my 
Maker  would  soon  take  me  away. 

Sensible  of  the  great  importance  of  the  most  rigid  impartiality, 

he  would  forearm  himself  against  the  least  respect  of  persons. 

The  Hebrew  has  a  nice  play  upon  the  various  senses  of  the  word 
used  every-where  in  the  phrase  "accept  the  person" — which 
literally  signifies — to  take  or  taTce  iip  the  face.  Elihu  says,  If  I 
should  take  up  any  man's  face,  my  Maker  would  soon  take  up  me! 
— take  me  in  hand  for  pui'poses  far  other  than  flattery  or 
favoritism. 


CHAPTER  XXXIIL 

Elihu  opens  his  argument. 

Elihu  enters  upon  his  expostulation  with  Job,  gently,  cau- 
tiously, yet  as  one  in  earnest; — first  with  yet  more  woi'ds  of  in- 
troduction (v.  1-7) ;  then  proceeding  to  the  first  count  in  his 
indictment,  he  charges  Job  with  having   claimed   spotless   inno- 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXXIII.  175 

cence  as  toward  God,  and  also  with  having  entered  complaint 
against  God  of  injustice  (v.  8-13);  then  shows  how  God  reveals 
himself  to  man  for  purposes  of  instruction  and  correction  (v. 
14—18);  bringing  upon  man  suffering  as  a  moral  discipline 
(v.  19-22);  in  which  case,  if  there  be  some  one  to  teach  the  suf- 
ferer and  lead  his  heart  back  to  God,  the  best  moral  results  fol- 
low, coupled  with  physical  restoration  as  well  (v.  23-30). 

1.  Wherefore,  Job,  I  pray  thee,  hear  my  speeches,  and 
hearken  to  all  my  words. 

2.  Behold,  now  I  have  opened  my  mouth,  my  tongue  hath 
spoken  in  my  mouth. 

3.  INIy  Avords  shall  be  of  tlie  uprightness  of  my  heart:  and 
my  hps  shall  utter  knowledge  clearly. 

4.  The  Spirit  of  God  hath  made  me,  and  the  breath  of 
the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life. 

5.  K  thou  canst  answer  me,  set  tJiy  tuords  in  order  before 
me,  stand  up. 

In  V.  3  Elihu   says   tersely:   "My  words   are  the  uprightness 
of  my  heart;"  I  have  only  the  best  intentions  and  shall  speak 

only  my  own  heart. "  Mj  lips  shall  utter  knowledge  jivi-eb/  " 

— better  than  "  clearly  " — his  thought  being  not  so  much  upon 
style  as  upon  substance.  What  he  had  to  say  was  pure  trutli, 
with  no  admixture  of  error.  So  the  Psalmist  used  this  word — 
"The  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure"  (19:  8);   "Thy  word 

is  very  pnre ;    therefore  thy  servant  loveth   it"   (119:   140). 

The  reference  in  v.  4  to  man's  original  creation  as  given  in  Gen. 
2 :  7,  is  beautifully  in  place  here  in  connection  with  the  devoted 
homage  to  truth  in  its  purity  which  Elihu  had  just  then  professed. 
What  could  more  befit  an  immortal,  heaven-born  soul  than  such 
love  and  devotion  to  truth  in  its  purity  !  Did  Elihu  purposely 
intimate  that  he  felt  his  responsilnlity  as  a  child  of  God  by  most 
direct  pareiitai^e,  to  search  after  and  when  found  to  speak  the 
very  truth  of  God  without  fear  or  favor,  and  (if  so  he  might)  for 

the  spiritual  good  of    his  fellow-beings? It   deserves   special 

notice  that  of  the  two  verbs  in  v.  4,  the  first  is  in  the  perfect 
tense  (a  finished  act) ;  the  second  in  the  imperfect  (the  HebrcAV 
future)  for  an  act  not  finished  but  still  continued — thus:  The 
Spirit  of  God  hath  made  me,  giving  me  existence  at  my  birth  into 
being.  The  breath  of  the  Almighty  still  gives  and  will  give  me 
life — this  second  verb,  therefore,  looking  to  God's  sustaining  hand, 

as  the  former,  to  God's  originally  creative  power. In  the  last 

clause  of  v.  5,  there  is  no  occasion  to  supply  "words"  which  the 
English  version  puts  in  italics;  for  the  sense  is  good  without  it: 
— "  If  thou  art  able,  then  answer  me;  set  thyself  before  [against] 
me  ;  take  thy  stand." 

6.  Behold,  I  am  according  to  thy  wish  in  God's  stead :  I 
also  am  formed  out  of  the  clay. 


176  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXXIII. 

7.  Behold,  my  terror  shall  not  make  thee  afraid,  neither 
shall  my  hand  be  heavy  upon  thee. 

Two  constructions  of  v.  6  have  been  proposed  :  (a)  The  first 
that  of  our  English  version  : — I  am  God's  vicegerent  to  debate  and 
try  this  case  with  thee,  for  thou  hast  requested  such  an  one  ; — 
(b)  I   am  like  thyself   as  toward  God — a  mere  creature  ;  I  am 

formed  of  clay. We  shall  remember  that  Job  had  passionately 

begged  that  he  might  have  another  than  God — one  human  like 
himself^jefore  whom  his  case  might  be  tried.  (See  9 :  32,  34,  35 
and  13  :  21,  22). The  first  construction  (as  above)  is  objection- 
able as  being  too  bold  and  assuming  to  comport  with  Elihu'a 
modesty  and  good  sense.  In  a  point  so  delicate  he  would  be 
likely  to  suggest   his  relation   to  God   in   the   matter   indirectly 

rather   than  afiirm   it   directly. Again,   the    unusual    phrase, 

translated  "  according  to  thy  wish,"  means  in  Hebrew  usage  only 
— as  thou  art;  like  thyself  [The  Hebrew  student  will  find  it  in 
Ex.  16:  21  and  Num.  6:  21  and  7:  5].  Moreover,  the  parallel 
clause — "  I  too  was  formed  of  clay  " — should  indicate  the  sense 
of  the  clause  in  question.  For  these  reasons  the  second  con- 
struction   (b)  is  to   be  preferred. Job   had   complained  that 

God's  majesty  overwhelmed  him;  that  his  terror  before  the  Al- 
mighty would  appall  and  unfit  him  for  the  trial.  But  Elihu 
says — You  need  have  no  such  terror  before  me. — In  the  second 
clause  of  v.  7  we  should  translate — not  "my  hand"  but  my 
dignity.  There  will  be  no  such  dignity  or  majesty  in  my  pres- 
ence as  will  oppress  you  heavily. 

8.  Surely  thou  hast  spoken  in  mine  hearing,  and  I  have 
heard  the  voice  of  thy  words,  saying, 

9.  I  am  clean  without  transgression,  I  am  innocent ;  neither 
is  tliere  iniquity  in  me. 

10.  Behold,  he  findeth  occasions  against  me,  he  counteth 
me  for  his  enemy; 

11.  He  putteth  my  feet  in  the  stocks,  he  marketh  all  my 
paths. 

Job  had  said  things  of  God  which  would  not  bear  scrutiny. 
Elihu  brings  some  of  them  forward  as  he  understands  them.  Per- 
haps his  construction  was  in  some  respects  rather  stringent  than 
liberal  and  charitable,  but  Job  could  not  be  justified.  In  the  final 
issue  God  did  not  justify  him,  nor  did  Job  by  any  means  justify 

himself In  v.  10,  "occasions" — grounds  of  quarrel,  as  in  10: 

6  and  14:  16 — which  passages  however  should  scarcely  be  con- 
strued to  mean  more  than  a  close  scrutiny,  a  rigid  investigation ; 
and  not  necessarily  that  God  sought  occasion  for  a  quarrel. 

12.  Behold,  in  this  thou  art  not  just :  I  will  answer  thee, 
that  God  is  greater  than  man. 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXXIII.  177 

13.  Why  dost  thou  strive  against  him?  for  he  giveth  not 
account  of  any  of  his  matters. 

It  deserves  special  notice  and  will  receive  attention  again  in 
the  sequel,  that  Elihu  does  not  rest  God's  claim  on  us  for  trust, 
submission  and  love,  upon  his  goodness  but  upon  his  greatness 
and  his  absolute  sovereignty.  He  did  not  say ;  We  know  that 
God  is  benevolent — too  good  ever  to  deal  unjustly;  nor  did  he  say, 
— All  our  intuitions  of  God  affirm  that  the  Infinite  One  must  be 
infinitely  just  to  all  his  creatures.  Not  either  of  these  grounds 
does  he  distinctly  take  ;  Init  he  says — God  is  greater  than  man  and 
gives  no  account  of  his  ways.  In  the  sequel  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  notice  that  this  is  the  position  and  doctrine  not  of 
Elihu  only  but  of  the  whole  book — the  resting  of  the  case  as  put 
ultimately  by  Jehovah  himself  Hence  the  fact  should  be  reserved 
for  more  distinct  consideration  in  connection  with  the  closing 
chapters. 

14.  For  God  speaketh  once,  yea  twice,  yet  mem  perceiveth 
it  not. 

15.  In  a  dream,  in  a  vision  of  the  night,  when  deep  sleep 
falleth  upon  men,  in  slumberings  upon  the  bed ; 

16.  Then  he  ojDeneth  the  ears  of  men,  and  sealeth  their 
instruction, 

17.  That  he  may  withdraw  man /ro)u  Ids  jDurpose,  and  hide 
pride  from  man. 

But  God  does  speak  to  mortal  man  for  his  instruction  and  cor- 
rection, sometimes  in  dreams  or  visions — of  which  method  Eliphaz 
had  before  spoken  (4:  12-21).  Beyond  question  this  method  of 
divine  communication  to  man  was  not  uncommon  in  the  earlier 

ages.     The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  give  repeated  instances. 

In  V.  14,  the  exact  relation  of  the  second  clause  to  the  first  is  left 
somewhat  indefinite  in  the  original.  The  verse  taken  literally 
runs — "  For  once,  God  will  speak,,  and  twice  ;  one  will  not  regard 
it" — which  might  supposably  mean — ?y' man  does  not  regard  the 
first  speaking;  or,  though  man  regards  it  not;  or,  man  loill  not 
see,  or  does  not  see,  ^.  e.,  is  slow  and  dull  of  apprehension.  Most 
probably  the  sense  is,  that  God  in  great  compassion  and  forbear- 
ance speaks  the  second  time  if  the  first  time  proves  unavailing. 

In  dreams   or  visions  he   awakens   thought  and  moves  upon 

the  sensibility  so  as  thoroughly  to  open  the  ear  of  men  and  seal 
instruction  to  them,  not  in  the  sense  of  shutting  it  off,  but  of  fasten- 
ing it  within  and  upon  their  mind.  The  object  in  view  (v.  17)  is 
to  induce  man  to  put  away  his  wrong  deeds  and  to  save  him  from 
pride.  "Hiding  pride  from  man"  seems  to  imply — taking  from 
it  its  glare  and  fascination,  forestalling  thus  its  tempting  power; 
withdrawing  it  from  his  admiring  view. 

18.  He  keepeth  hack  his  soul  from  the  pit,  and  his  life 
from  perishing  by  the  sword. 


178  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXXIII. 

19.  He  is  clitisteued  also  with  j)aiu  upon  his  bed,  and  the 
multitude  of  his  bones  with  strong  jmIu. 

20.  So  that  his  life  abhorreth  bread,  and  his  soul  dainty- 
meat. 

21.  His  flesh  is  consumed  away,  that  it  can  not  he  seen  ; 
and  his  bones  that  were  not  seen  stick  out. 

22.  Yea,  his  soul  draweth  near  unto  the  grave,  and  his  life 
to  the  destroyers. 

The  pui-pose  of  God  in  these  efforts  to  instruct  man,  and  also  the 
methods  adopted  for  his  correction,  come  to  view  here;  viz.,  to 
save  him  (as  in  v.  18)  from  rushing  upon  his  own  destruction. 
For  this  end  God  chastens  him  with  pain  and  disease  ;  takes  away 
his  appetite  for  food  and  his  flesh,  and  brings  him  near  the  grave. 
Elihu  puts  the  supposed  case  in  such  terms  as  would  suggest  to 

Job  his  own. In  v.  18,  the  Hebrew  gives  us,  not  "sword"  but 

dart  or  javelin,  a  weapon  thrown  by  the  hand. In  v.  19,  not 

"the  multitude  of  his  bones,"  but  chastened  with  a  strife  of  his 
bones  continually — as  if  they  were  in  a  mutiny,  an  uprising,  an 
utter  unrest.  By  a  change  of  vowel  points  we  have  really  a  differ- 
ent word  in  the  text,  which  instead  of  emphasizing  the  number  of 
his  bones,  puts  stress  upon  their  disturbance,  commotion, 

23.  If  there  be  a  messenger  with  him,  an  interpreter,  one 
among  a  thousand,  to  shew  unto  man  his  uprightness ; 

24.  Then  he  is  gracious  unto  him,  and  saith.  Deliver  him 
from  going  down  to  the  pit :  I  have  found  a  ransom. 

25.  His  flesh  shall  be  fresher  than  a  child's :  he  shall  return 
to  the  days  of  his  youth  : 

26.  He  shall  pray  unto  God,  and  he  will  he  favorable  unto 
him :  and  he  shall  see  his  face  with  joy :  for  he  will  reuder 
unto  man  his  righteousness. 

Then  if  this  sufferer  under  God's  chastisement  has  some  friend 
to  interpret  to  him  the  kind  designs  of  God  in  these  inflictions, 
and  if  the  sufferer  is  brought  back  to  humble  repentance,  then  the 
mercy  of  God  comes  to  his  relief  He  is  speedily  restored  to 
sound  and  youthful  flesh.  God  hears  his  prayer  once  more  and 
deals  with  him  according  to  his  present  righteousness.     Such  is 

the  general  strain  of  this  passage. In  v.  23,  the  Heb.  word  for 

"messenger"  is  the  usual  one  for  angel,  yet  manifestly  refers  to 
some  human  rather  than  superhuman  messenger — one  who  stands 
in  the  counsels  of  God,  comprehends  his  moral  purposes,  and  is 
competent  therefore  to  lead  suffering  men  to  right  views  of  God's 
designs  in  their  afiliction.     Such  a  spiritual  guide  (Elihu  suggests) 

is  a  rare  man,  "  one  of  a  thousand." "To  show  unto  m.an  his 

uprightness  "  should  not  be  taken  here  to  moan — that  this  suffer- 
ing man  is  upright,  but  rather,  that  he  may  become  so — i.  e„  to 
show  to  man  what  is  his  right  way.     Or  possibly  it  should  refer 


THE  BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXXIII.  179 

to  God  rather  than  to  man; — to  show  this  sufferer  God's  right- 
eousness— his  real  goodness  and  his  kind  moral  purpose  in  this 

affliction. Such  a  messenger  and  interpreter  of  God  s  purposes, 

Elihu  modestly  suggests — am  1  to  thee,  O  Job. The  words — "1 

have  found  a  ransom,"  are  truly  remarkable,  considering  the  very 
early  date  of  this  book.  So  early  the  grand  idea  of  a  ransom  for 
sinners — a  ground  of  possible  pardon  for  the  penitent — was  before 
the  minds  of  those  most  taught  of  God.  Old  Testament  usage  of 
this  Hebrew  word  [copher]  is  uniform  and  decided,  and  therefore 
must  fix  its  meaning.  (See  Ex.  21 :  30  and  30:  12  and  Num.  35  : 
31,  32  and  Prov.  6  :  35  and  13:  8  and  21 :  18  and  Isa.  43  :  3  and 
Ps.  49:  land  Job  36:  18.) 

27.  He  looketh  upon  men,  and  if  awj  say,  I  have  sinned, 
and  perverted  that  u'hich  luas  right,  and  it  profited  me  not; 

28.  He  will  deliver  his  soul  from  going  into  the  pit,  and 
his  life  shall  see  the  light. 

29.  Lo,  all  these  things  worketh  God  oftentimes  with  man, 

30.  To  bring  back  his  soul  from  the  pit,  to  be  enlightened 
with  the  light  of  the  living. 

In  V.  27,  the  subject  of  the  first  verb  should  be  the  same  as  of  the 
second,  the  Hebrew  requiring  this.  Therefore  we  must  make 
this  sui)ject  man,  not  God,  and  read  thus :  He  (this  pardoned  and 
i-estored  man)  will  chant  it  before  men  (in  his  praise-song)  and 
will  say — "I  have  sinned  and  have  perverted  the  right,"  etc.  The 
verb  which  the  Eng.  version  makes  "looketh,"  by  another  punc- 
tuation means   sing. The  last  clause  of  v.  27  is  interpreted 

somewhat  variously.  Prof  Conant  is  Avith  our  received  version: 
"It  availed  me  not;"  this  sinning  life  did  not  pay.  Gcsenius  has 
it — It  was  not  made  even,  or  equal,  to  me;  but  Euerst — "It  was 
not  recompensed  to  me  righteously,  according  to  my  deserts  ;" — 
which  in  this  connection  should  imply  that  God  did  not  requite  or 
render  back,  up  to"  the  full  measure  of  his  ill-desert,  but  either 
delayed  or  lessened  the  really  righteous  retribution  for  his  sins. — 
This  last  is  not  only  true,  but  is  a  precious  truth,  and  by  no  means 
inappropriate  at  this  point. — Ofttimes  God  deals  thus  with  men  to 
save  their  souls  from  the  pit  of  ruin  and  bring  them  back  to  the 
light  and  joy  of  a  true  life. 

31.  Mark  well,  0  Job,  heai-ken  unto  me :  hold  thy  peace, 
and  I  will  speak. 

82.  If  thou  hast  any  thing  to  say,  answer  me  ;  speak,  for 
I  desire  to  justify  thee. 

33.  K  not,  hearken  unto  me  :  hold  thy  peace,  and  I  shall 
teach  thee  wisdom. 

It  was  both  kind  and  conciliating  for  Elihu  to  say,  "1  desire  to 
justify  thee."  Nothing  would  please  me  better  than  to  find  thy 
cause  a  just  one  and  to  show  it  to  be  so.    No  prejudice  shall  blind 


180  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.   XXXIV. 

my  eye  to  any  thing  which  legitimately  bears  toward  thy  vindica- 
tion.  In  V.  33  "If  not,"  means — If  thou  hast  not  any  thing  to 

say,  then  listen  to  me. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

Eliliu  continues. 

The  pivotal  thought  of  the  chapter  is  put  in  v.  5 :  "Job  hath 
said,  I  am  righteous,  and  God  hath  taken  away  my  judgment" — 
i.  e.,  my  right;  hath  virtually  denied  to  me  the  equity  and  fair 
dealing  which  was  my  right.  These  Avords  of  Job,  Elihu  con- 
demns as  not  only  rash  but  impious. 

1.  Furthermore  Elihu  answered  and  said, 

2.  Hear  my  words,  O  ye  wise  men ;  and  give  ear  unto  me, 
ye  that  have  knowledge. 

3.  For  the  ear  trieth  words,  as  the  mouth  tasteth  meat. 

4.  Let  us  choose  to  us  judgment :  let  us  know  among  our- 
selves "what  is  good. 

In  V.  4,  the  verb  "c7;oose"  not  only  implies  but  emphasizes  the 
preliminary  investigation  :  Let  us  examine  as  preparatory  to  a 
wise  decision  upon  what  is  right. 

5.  For  Job  hath  said,  I  am  righteous  :  and  God  hath  taken 
away  my  judgment. 

6.  Should  I  lie  against  my  right  ?  my  wound  h  incurable 
Avithout  transgression. 

Elihu  referred  (avc  may  suppose)  to  what  Job  had  said  in  13  : 
rS  and  16:  17  and  19:  6,  7  and  27:  2-6.  In  commenting  upon 
these  passages  I  have  suggested  the  modifications  which  his  words 
under  the  circumstances  might  perhaps  bear.  Yet  it  must  be 
admitted  that  Job  was  less  careful  than  he  should  have  been  to 
indicate  these  modifications  himself.  We  can  not  say  less  than 
that  he  "spake  unadvisedly  with  his  lips,"  his  words  and  spirit 
lacking  that  humble  reverence  before  God  which  so  eminently 
befits  a  frail  and  sinning  mortal,  Elihu  takes  his  words  in  their 
strongest  sense,  perhaps  making  them  mean  more  than  Job  ever 
really  intended. — I  take  v.  6  to  mean — Against  my  own  right, 
shall  I  speak  falsely?  i.  e.,  for  the  sake  of  justifying  God,  shall  I 
ignore  my  own  conscious  innocence  of  the  charges  my  friends 
bring  against  me  and  confess  mj^self  a  vile  hypocrite  when  I  know 
I  am  not?  Elihu  may  refer  specially  to  Job's  Avords  in  27 :  4,  5. — 
Last  clause  of  v.  6: — "My  arroAv"  (that  which  sticks  fast  in  me)  is 


THE  BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXXIV.  181 

fatal — from  no  sin  of  mine.  Elihu  charges  that  Job  represents 
himself  as  shot  unto  death,  not  for  any  crime  on  his  part  which 
deserved  death. 

7.  What  man  is  Ijke  Job,  wlio  drinketh  up  scorning  like 
water  ? 

8.  Which  goeth  in  company  with  the  workers  of  iniquity, 
and  walketh  with  wicked  men. 

9.  For  he  hath  said,  It  profiteth  a  man  nothing  that  he 
should  delight  himself  with  God. 

Scoffing  is  more  exact  than  "  scorning,"  scorn  being  properly  of 
the  heart,  and  scofiF  of  the  lip.  Job's  words  are  thought  of  here. 
The  figure  used  implies  that  Job  scoffed  as  freely  and  copiously  as 
a  thirsty  man  drinks  water. — .Job's  woi'ds  and  doctrine,  moreover, 
put  him  on  the  side  of  wicked  men,  in  intimate  sympathy  with 
them,  for  he  said  what  they  love  to  say  and  hear.  He  had  said — 
It  is  of  no  use  to  obey  and  please  God — which  is  no  less  false  and 
blasphemous  than  what  wicked  men  are  wont  to  say.  Elihu' s' 
mind  may  have  been  on  Job's  words  in  9  :  22,  23:  "He  destroyeth 
the  perfect  and  the  wicked.  If  the  scourge  slay  suddenly,  he  will 
laugh  at  the  trial  of  the  innocent."  Job  had  put  the  case  as  it 
seemed  to  him,  viz.,  that  God  sends  affliction  on  the  good  as  on 
the  bad — upon  one  who  seeks  and  would  please  God,  as  upon  one 
who  does  not: — a  fact  he  could  not  explain  ;  he  could  only  affirm 
it  to  be  so.  He  did  not,  however,  put  himself  in  heart  and  sym- 
pathy wath  wicked  men,  but  again  and  again  denied  having  such 
sympathy.  See  21 :  14-16  and  23 :  11,  12  and  27 :  7-13.  "Far  be 
the  counsel  of  the  wicked  from  me."  "My  foot  hath  held  his 
steps,"  etc.  "I  have  esteemed  the  words  of  his  mouth  more  than 
my  necessary  food."  "Let  my  enemy  l)e  as  the  wicked,"  etc. 
Elihu,  therefore,  (in  this  charge  at  least)  was  not  only  unchari- 
table but  uncandid,  not  to  say  slanderous  toward  Job. 

10.  Therefore  hearken  unto  me,  ye  men  of  understanding : 
far  be  it  from  God,  that  he  should  do  wickedness  ;  and  from 
the  Almighty,  that  he  sho^dd  commit  iniquity. 

11.  For  the  work  of  a  man  shall  he  render  unto  him,  and 
cause  every  man  to  find  according  to  his  ways. 

12.  Yea  surely  God  will  not  do  wickedly,  neither  will  the 
Almighty  pervert  judgment. 

God  turns  with  abhorrence  from  doing  Avickedness  :  let  man 
forbear  to  cast  on  him  such  an  imputation  !  Nothing  could  be  to 
him  a  greater  abomination  !  This  seems  to  be  the  bottom  thought 
of  the  Hebrew  woi-ds. God  renders  to  man  in  pure  justice  ac- 
cording to  his  ways.     This  Elihu  avers  most  explicitly  and  with 

the  greatest  solemnity. Did  he  state  this  as  an  intuition  —  a 

thing  that  must  be  so  by  the  necessity  of  God's  being ;  or  as  the 
result  of  his  observation  and  experience  as  to  the  ways  of  God  in 
the  present  world  ?     The  former  apparently,  rather  than  the  latter. 


182  THE    BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.  XXXIV. 

13.  Who  has  given  him  a  charge  over  the  earth?  or  who 
hath  disposed  the  whole  world  ? 

This  thought  is  in  "place  here  to  show  how  Elihu  came  to  his 
strong  conviction  in  respect  to  the  inherent  and  necessary  justice 

of  God. Who  put  the  Almighty  in  charge   over  the  earth  as 

Moral  Governor  ?  or  who  gave  order  to  the  whole  habitable  world, 
i.  e.,  to  the  world  considered  as  peopled  by  intelligent  and  moral 
beings  ?  Is  God  acting  a  subordinate  part,  with  only  delegated 
power  and  right  ?     If  so,  who  is  his  Superior  ?  Who  is  the  really 

Injinite,  Supreme  Being  ? But  all  our  intuitions  compel  us  to 

believe  that  the  Great  Underived,  the  sole  and  Supreme  Monarch 
of  all,  mtist  he  above  all  temptation  to  injustice,  indeed,  to.  any 
and  all  evil — the  infinitely  pure  and  perfect  One.  Such,  if  fully 
drawn  out,  would  seem  to  have  been  the  reasoning  of  Elihu  and 
the  ground  of  his  belief  in  God's  infinite  perfection. 

14.  If  he  set  his  heart  upon  man,  if  he  gather  unto  him- 
.self  his  spirit  and  his  breath  ; 

15.  All  flesh  shall  perish  together,  and  man  shall  turn 
again  unto  dust. 

Think  of  God's  infinite  power  to  take  all  life  from  the  entire 
race  of  man  !  Were  he  to  gather  to  himself  that  breath  of  life 
which  at  man's  creation  he  imparted  (Gen.  2  :  7),  how  suddenly 
would  all  the  living  expire  together !  The  doctrine  seems  to  be 
that  one  who  wields  infinite,  supreme  power  7mtst  he  perfectly 
just  and  good.  So  Abraham; — "Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right"?  (Gen.  18:  25).  The  reasoning  does  not  seek 
strength  from  the  recoil  of  human  hearts  from  the  opposite  alter- 
native— How  unutterably  dreadful  if  it  could  be  otherwise — if  the 
Supreme,  with  such  resources  of  power  were  susceptible  to  malice 
and  liable  to  do  moral  wrong !  but  it  moves  promptly  and  firmly 
to  the  conclusion — One  so  infinitely  above  all  his  creatures  nmst 
he  perfect  in  goodness,  of  pure  and  perfect  justice. 

16.  If  now  tlvou  hast  understanding,  hear  this:  hearken  to 
the  voice  of  ray  words. 

17.  Shall  even  he  that  hateth  right,  govern  ?  and  wilt 
thou  condemn  him  that  is  most  just? 

Elihu  expands  and  elaborates  this  great  and  cai'dinal  point.  Is 
it  even  supposable  that  a  hater  of  justice  can  rule  the  universe? 
Or,  putting  it  in  another  form ;  Is  it  at  all  supposable  that  the 
Ruler  of  the  universe  can  possibly  be  a  hater  of  justice?  And 
since  our  resistless  intuitions  give  us  these  assured  convictions, 
how  shouldest  thou  dare  condemn  the  All-just  and  the  Almighty? 

18.  Is  it  ft  to  say  to  a  king.  Thou  art  wicked  ?  and  to 
princes,  Ye  are  ungodl)'  ? 

19.  How  much  less  to  him  that  accepteth  not  the  persons  of 
princes,  nor  regardeth  the  rich  more  than  the  poor  ?  for  they 
all  are  the  work  of  his  hands. 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.   XXXIV.  183 

Even  on  earth,  all  right-thinking;  men  recognize  the  profound 
respect  due  to  official  rank  and  high  authority,  when  worthily 
borne,  lien  count  it  treason  to  blaspheme  the  king  and  defame 
princes,  especially  when  their  character  is  stainless  and  their  ad- 
ministration truly  righteous — which  is  what  Eliliu  adds  in  v.  18. 
We  have  no  authority  in  the  Hebrew  for  the  words — "  How  much 
less  to  him,"  which  imply  that  v.  19  describes  another  and  a  dif- 
ferent personage  from  those  of  v.  18.  The  true  construction  is — 
"Shall  one  say  to  a  king  Belial  (Heb.)  "O  thou  bad!"  and  of 
princes — "  O  Avicked  one  !"  who  (/.  e.,  when  this  very  king,  or 
this  prince,  is  one  who)  regards'  not  the  person  of  princes  and 
knows  not  the  rich  in  the  presence  of  the  poor,  for  they  are  all 
tlie  work  of  his  hand.  The  inference  tacitly  suggested  is — AVhen 
such  reproachful  words  are  said  of  the  Great  King,  whose  charac- 
ter is  spotless  and  his  administration  unblemished,  what  can  be 
more  impious  ? 

20.  Ill  a  moment  shall  tlicy  die,  and  the  people  shall  be 
troubled  at  midnight,  and  pass  away :  and  the  mighty  shall 
be  taken  away  without  hand. 

21.  For  his  eyes  are  upon  the  ways  of  man,  and  he  seeth 
all  his  goings. 

22.  There  is  no  darkness,  nor  shado^v  of  death,  where  the 
workers  of  iniquity  may  hide  themselves. 

The  awful  sweep  of  God's  judgments,  so  sudden,  so  resistless — 
is  the  thought  hei-e,  apparently  designed  to  inspire  a  wholesome 

fear  of  his  retributions. It  is  but  a  moment  and  they  die  ;   "  at 

midnight;  whole  peoples  are  smitten  and  pass  away" — smitten 
rather  than  "  troubled  "  meets  the  demands  of  the  context.  Even 
the  mighty  are  taken  away,  yet  by  no  visible  hand.  The  unseen 
agencies  of  the  Omnipotent  do  the  work. 

23.  For  he  will  not  laj'  upon  man  more  than  right;  that  he 
should  enter  into  judgment  Avith  God. 

24.  He  shall  break  in  pieces  mighty  men  without  number, 
and  set  others  in  their  stead. 

Tn  the  first  clause  of  v.  23,  the  English  version  has  manifestly 
missed  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  words.  The  Hebrew  phrase, 
meaning  to  set  the  heart  upon  one  ["  heart  "  as  the  seat  of  tJwvghi^ 
occurs  somewhat  frequently;  e.  g.,in  full  form  chap.  ]  :  8  and 
2:3:  with  the  word  "  heart  "  implied,  in  chap.  4  :  20  and  23  :  6  ; 
and  with  an  analogous  verb,  in  7  :  17.  The  sense  hei'e,  therefore, 
is  not — laying  upon  man  ■inflictions,  but  setting  upon  man  his 
tJiougJit.  Then  we  have  in  the  original  a  very  important  word* 
which  is  not  represented  at  all  in  the  English  version.  Its  nor- 
mal sense  involves  doing  a  thing  again,  over  and  over  as  in  a  circle, 
or  round  and  round.     Hence  the  meaning  must  be  this  :   God  will 


184  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAT.    XXXIV. 

not  set  his  thought  upon  each  man  again  and  again  that  he  may 
go  before  God  in  the  judgment.  He  is  not  shut  up  to  the  slow 
processes  of  human  courts — one  man  at  a  time ;  witnesses  exam- 
ined and  re-examined;  protracted  arguments  of  counsel;  long 
deliberations  of  the  Judge : — but  God  moves  with  amazing  rapid- 
ity:  one  flash  of  his  eye,  one  touch  of  his  infinite  Mind  gives  him 

every  element  of  the  case   in  perfection. This  is  the  thought 

also  in  the  next  verse — which  however  is  quite  obscured  in  the 
English  version.  The  original  has  it :  He  breaks  in  pieces  the 
mighty  with  no  long  antecedent  searching.  Search  and  not 
"  number,"  is  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew. 

25.  Therefore  he  kuoweth  their  works,  and  he  overturn- 
eth  them  in  the  night,  so  that  they  are  destroyed. 

26.  He  striketh  them  as  wicked  men  in  the  open  sight  of 
others ; 

27.  Because  they  turned  back  from  him,  and  would  not 
consider  any  of  his  ways  : 

28.  So  that  they  cause  the  cry  of  the  poor  to  come  unto 
him,  and  he  heareth  the  cry  of  the  afflicted. 

29.  When  he  giveth  quietness,  Avho  then  can  make  trou- 
ble ?  and  when  he  hideth  his  face,  who  then  can  behold  him  ? 
whether  it  be  done  against  a  nation,  or  against  a  man  only : 

30.  That  the  hypocrite  reign  not,  lest  the  peojile  be 
ensnared. 

The  precise  sense  of  the  word  for  "Therefore"  seems  to  be — 
Because,  inasmuch  as,  God  knows  their  works  perfectly,  he  needs 
no  appreciable  time  for  inquiry  or  examination,  but  overwhelms 
them  in  a  night;  (not  "  the  "  night,  but)  in  the  lapse  of  a  single 

night,  the  awful  desolation  is  complete. In  v.  27,  28,  turning 

back  from  following  after  God  is  supposed  to  develop  into  oppres- 
sion of  the  poor  which  brings  up  their  cry  for  redress  before  God — 
one  who  will  always  hear  such  cries ! — Carrying  out  this  thought 
yet  farther,  consider  that  God  rules  the  world,  caring  for  the  de- 
fenseless, curbing  his  oppressors.  When  He  gives  rest,  who  shall 
condemn,  bring  in  guilty  ?  etc.  When  he  hides  his  face,  what  eye 
can  piei'ce  through  to  gaze  upon  it,  or  to  win  its  smiles  ? — This 
may  apply  to  judgments  upon  a  whole  people,  or  upon  a  single 
individual — all  the  same,  God's  ultimate  aim  being  that  corrupt 
men  shall  not  bear  rule,  nor  the  people  be  ensnared. 

31.  Surely  it  is  meet  to  be  said  unto  God,  I  have  borne 
chastisement,  I  will  not  offend  any  more: 

32.  That  which  I  see  not,  teach  thou  me  :  if  I  have  done 
iniquit}^,  I  will  do  no  more. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  any  other  advice  given  to  the  sufierer 
by  Elihu,  this  is  admirable.  JS'othing  could  be  more  appropriate 
for  a  sufferer  to  say  unto  God  than  this.     And  Job  need  have  no 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXXIV.  185 

fear  lest  so  much  confession  of  sin  as  those  words  imply  would  he 
an  admission  of  that  t:;reat  guilt  of  hypocrisy  and  that  unmitigated 
iniquity  which  his  friends,  according  to  their  doctrine,  felt  bound 
to  charge  upon  him.  We  can  readily  understand  that  Job  stood 
toward  his  friends  in  a  very  narrow,  tight  place,  there  being  on 
the  one  hand  the  fitness  of  making  honest  confession  to  God  of 
sins  in  the  way  of  shortcomings,  of  which  we  must  suppose  he 
was  consciously  guilty;  and  on  the  other,  the  protest  of  his  deep- 
est consciousness  against  the  kind  and  the  measure  of  guilt  which 
they  laid  to  his  charge. 

33.  SJiould  it  be  according  to  thy  mind  ?  he  will  recom- 
pense it,  whether  thou  refuse,  or  whether  thou  choose ;  and 
not  I :  therefore  speak  what  thou  knowest. 

In  this  verse  of  somewhat  complicated  structure,  it  seems  plain 
that  the  verb  "requite''  ["recompense"]  belongs  to  the  very  first 
clause.  We  have  no  need  or  place  for  the  verb  "  be,''  supplied 
without  authority  by  our  translators.  Hence  we  may  read  thus : 
"  Shall  lie  [God]  requite  at  thy  instance,  so  that  thou  mayest  refuse, 
or  that  thou  thyself  and  not  I,  should  choose?  Then,  what  thou 
knowest,  speak  forth."  The  sense  will  be  this  :  Canst  thou  expect 
that  God  will  consult  thee  and  be  governed  by  thy  choice  rather 
than  by  his  own  wisdom  in  the  recompenses  of  his  providence 
toward  thee  ? 

34.  Let  men  of  understanding  tell  me,  and  let  a  wise  man 
heai'ken  unto  me. 

35.  Job  hath  spoken  without  knowledge,  and  his  woi'ds 
ivere  without  wisdom. 

36.  My  desire  is  that  Job  may  be  tried  unto  the  end, 
because  of  Im  answers  for  wicked  men. 

37.  For  he  addeth  rebellion  unto  his  sin,  he  clappeth  Ms 
hands  among  us,  and  multiplieth  his  words  against  God. 

He  invokes  a  thorough  sifting  of  Job's  words  and  of  his  attitude 
toward  God.  His  answers  [statements]  had  seemed  to  be  in 
favor  of  wicked  men,  of  such  sort  as  would  sustain  them  in  their 
rebellion  against  God. — In  v.  37,  Elihu  puts  the  case  very  strongly — 
far  more  strongly  than  Job's  real  feeling  and  true  intent  could 
justify.  Elihu  certainly  was  deficient  in  candor  and  sweet  Chris- 
tian charity. 


9 


186  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXV. 

CHAPTER   XXXV. 

Eliliu  continues. 

Elihu  opens  this  division  of  his  long  speech  by  naming  two 
charges  against  Job:  {a)  that  he  claimed  to  be  more  righteous 
than  God:  {h)  that  he  found  no  more  profit  in  serving  God  than 
in  sin.  But  he  drops  the  first,  having  dwelt  on  that  quite  fully  in 
the  two  previous  chapters,  and  devotes  this  chapter  to  the  second. 
His  doctrine  on  this  point  will  call  for  careful  attention,  viz.,  that 
God  is  so  high  above  us  that  neither  piety  nor  sin  can  have  any 
commercial  relations  toward  him,  neither  can  become  things  of 
profit  and  loss  as  to  God.  One  so  great  and  high  is  not  harmed 
by  man's  sin  nor  benefited  by  his  righteousness.  Hence  if  men 
are  proud  or  vain,  God  can  afford  to  disregard  their  cries  unto 
him;  while  yet  his  favor  is  a  priceless  blessing  to  those  who  seek 
and  find.  Elihu  seems  to  charge  against  Job  that  he  had  abused 
God's  supreme  independence  as  to  his  creatures  and  his  apparent 
[or  real]  disregard  of  their  doings,  to  the  result  of  a  most  ofiensive 
vanity  and  of  daring  utterances  against  his  Maker. 

1.  Elihu  spake  moreover,  and  said, 

2.  Thinkest  thou  this  to  be  right,  that  thou  saidst,  My 
righteousness  is  more  than  God's? 

3.  For  thou  saidst,  What  advantage  will  it  be  unto  thee? 
and,  What  profit  shall  I  have,  if  I  he  cleansed  from  my  sin  ? 

4.  I  will  answer  thee,  and  thy  companions  with  thee. 

Passing  the  first  charge  with  only  this  one  appeal — Do  you 
really  think  it  right  to  say  that  your  righteousness  is  more  than 
God's?  he  proceeds  to  a  second  charge,  viz.,  that  he  had  said 
there  is  no  profit  in  piety  more  than  in  sin.  In  the  last  clause  of 
V.  3  the  words  of  Elihu  are  closely  rendered,  thus:  "What  shall  I 
gain  more  than  by  my  sin"?  That  is — In  the  line  of  profit,  what 
course  pays  better  than  sinning?  What  is  the  use  of  being  right- 
eous? Elihu  had  made  the  same  charge  before  (34;  9):  "He 
hath  said.  It  profiteth  a  man  nothing  that  he  should  delight  him- 
self with  God."  But  this  was  pressing  Job's  words  beyond  his 
intent.  Job  had  indeed  said  (9:  22),  "This  is  one  thing;  there- 
fore I  said  it:  He  destroyeth  the  perfect  and  the  wicked."  Also 
(10:  15):  "If!  be  wicked,  woe  unto  me:  and  if  I  be  righteous, 
yet  will  I  not  lift  up  my  head."  But  for  aught  that  appears,  Job 
might  have  held  (9  :  22)  that  those  cases  were  exceptional,  anom- 
alous, and  not  the  uniform,  established  law  of  God's  administi'a- 
tion.  The  second  passage  above  cited  (10:  15)  was  evidently  of 
words  extorted  from  his  lips  by  his  own  strange,  astounding  ex- 
perience— this  marvel  of  perplexity  and  mystery:  and  therefore 
in  candor  should  not  be  taken  as  Job's  statement  of  doctrine  con- 
cerning God  and  his  ways. 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.    XXXV.  187 

5.  Look  unto  the  heavens,  and  see  ;  and  behold  the  clouds 
vhleh  are  higlier  than  thou. 

6.  If  thou  sinnest,  what  doest  thou  against  him  ?  or  if  thy 
transgressions  be  multiplied,  what  doest  thou  unto  him? 

7.  If  tliou  be  righteous,  what  givest  thou  him  ?  or  what 
receiveth  he  of  thine  hand  ? 

God  was  thought  of  as  enthroned  above  these  lower  heavens; 
far  away  therefore  from  this  humble  abode  of  mortals.  Elihu's 
thought  is  that  God  is  so  high  as  to  be  entirely  above  possible 
harm  from  man's  sin  or  benefit  from  his  righteousness.  Of  which 
sentiment,  this  should  be  said — that  on  the  one  hand  it  sufficiently 
sweeps  away  the  entire  system  of  commercial  religion — salvation 
by  -works  profitable  to  God,  or  destruction  because  of  mere  per- 
sonal damage  done  to  him;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  so 
pushed  as  quite  to  leave  out  of  account  God's  infinite  paternal  love 
for  his  creatures;  his  interest  in  their  Avelfare ;  his  happiness  in 
their  obedience  and  love;  and  his  displeasure  toward  their  sin  as 
ruinous  to  souls  he  has  made  to  be  blessed  in  his  favor.  It  seems 
doubtful  Avhether  Elihu  had  yet  reached  those  precious  gospel 
views  of  the  great  love  and  condescension  of  the  Infinite  Father 
which  Jesus  taught  so  sweetly. 

8.  Thy  wickedness  may  hurt  a  man  as  thou  art ;  and  thy 
righteousness  7nay  profit  the  son  of  man. 

The  Italic  words  supplied  in  this  verse  do  not  mislead,  yet  are 
scarcely  necessary.  For  we  may  translate  closely :  Thy  wicked- 
ness is  towards  or  unto  a  man  like  thyself,  and  thy  righteousness 
is  unto  a  son  of  man — i.  e.,  bears  upon  man  and  upon  man  only — 
not  upon  God. 

9.  By  reason  of  the  multitude  of  oppressions  they  make  the 
oppressed  to  cry  :  they  cry  out  by  reason  of  the  arm  of  the 
mighty. 

10.  But  none  saith,  Where  is  God  my  maker,  who  giveth 
songs  in  the  night : 

11.  Who  teacheth  us  more  than  the  beasts  of  the  earth, 
and  maketh  us  wiser  than  the  fowls  of  heaven  ? 

The  thought  in  v.  9  turns  to  show  how  thy  wickedness  may 
harm  thy  fellow-men,  taking  the  form  of  oppression  toward  the 
weak  and  compelling  them  to  cry  out  by  reason  of  unendurable 
wrongs.  Vs.  10,  11  suggest  that  even  these  afflicted,  overborne 
suff'erers  were  not  wont  to  seek  God  their  Maker  who  might  give 
them  songs  in  the  depths  of  their  darkness  and  calamity,  and  who 
kindly  teaches  his  docile  children  more  than  he  does  the  beasts 
of  the  earth,  or  the  fowls  of  heaven.  Perhaps  his  thought  is  that 
though  ye  can  not  profit  the  Infinite  God  by  your  piety  or  harm 
him  by  your  wickedness,  yet  ye  might  find  the  richest  consolation 
and  joy  in  his  favor  and  under  his  instruction.     It  is,  however, 


188  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXXV. 

more  natural  to  connect  v.  10  closely  with  v.  9  (as  above),  and 
refer  it  to  the  case  of  men,  oppressed  by  the  cruel  and  the  mighty, 
who  might  find  great  consolation  in  seeking  their  Maker. 

12.  There  they  cry,  but  none  giveth  answer,  because  of  the 
pride  of  evil  men. 

"  There  they  cry,"  looks  back  to  the  last  clause  of  v.  9 — "  They 

cry  out"  etc.,  and  saj-s  more  as  to  their  case. "None  giveth 

answer" — would  be  more  plain  if  put  as  it  stands  in  the  original — 

and  he  ansivei's  not — "  he  "  referring  to  God. Next  we   have 

the  question  to  meet  whether  Elihn  means  that  they  cry,  because 
of  the  pride  of  evil  men,  or  that  God  hears  not,  becanse  of  this 
pride.  The  latter  must  be  preferred,  both  because  the  7wt  hearing 
is  the  nearest  antecedent,  and  also  because  the  next  verse  is  on  this 
subject.  The  verse  therefore  means  that  men,  suffering  oppression, 
cry  out  under  it ;  but  God  answers  them  not,  because  they  are  too 
proud — i.  e.,  to  humble  themselves  before  him  and  seek  his  help. 

13.  Surely  God  will  not  hear  vanity,  neither  will  the  Al- 
mighty regard  it. 

14.  Although  thou  sayest  thou  shalt  not  see  him,  yet  judg- 
ment is  before  him ;  therefore  trust  thou  in  him. 

The  central  idea  in  the  Heb.  word  for  "  vanity  "  is  false,  lying, 
empty  or  void  of  truth.     Applied  to  prayer  it  means  insincere, 

dishonest.     Such  prayer  God  can  not  hear. In  v.  14  we  must 

set  aside  the  English  translation  as  being  wide  of  the  sense,  and 
translate — ]\Iuch  less  when  thou  sayest  that  thou  regardest  not 
him.  The  Heb.  verb  regard  is  the  same  here  as  in  the  last  clause 
of  v.  13  :  God  will  not  regard  thee,  thy  prayer  being  vanity :  much 
less  will  he  when  thou  sayest,  thou  regardest  not  him.  If  the 
suppliant  will  not  suitably  regard  God,  God  will  not  regard  him. 

But  such  relations  between  God  and  the  sinner  are  to  the 

einner  utterly  ruinous  !  Let  him  therefore  consider — The  cause 
is  before  Him  [God,  as  the  Great  Judge] ;  wait  thou  in  trust  and 
hope  for  him.  That  is ;  Seek  for  his  mercy  before  the  trial  of  your 
case  comes  on ! 

15.  But  now,  because  it  is  not  so,  he  hath  visited  in  his 
anger ;  yet  he  knoweth  it  not  in  great  extremity : 

16.  Therefore  doth  Job  open  his  mouth  in  vain ;  he  mul- 
tiplieth  words  without  knowledge. 

The  sense  of  v.  15  and  its  relation  to  v.  16  requires  a  better 
translation — thus  :  "  But  now  because  he  [God]  does  not  visit  in 
his  anger  and  does  not  scrutinize  crime  rigidly,  therefore  Job 
opens  his  mouth  wide  with  vanity  and  multiplies  words  without 
knowledge."  That  is,  God's  groat  forbearance  and  long  suffei'ing 
Job  abuses  by  indulging  himself  in  untruthful  allegations  and  in 
saying  things  of  which  he  knows  nothing. 


THE    BOOK   OF  JOB.  -CHAP.  XXXVI.  189 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

ElUiu  still  continues. 

In  this  portion  of  his  discourse  Elihu  magnifies  the  wisdom 
and  also  the  power  and  majesty  of  God,  making  it  his  special 
point  to  show  that  God  prospers  the  righteous;  but  if  they  fall 
into  sin,  sends  upon  them  affliction  for  purposes  of  discipline  and 
correction.  It  is  their  wisdom  to  receive  such  inflictions  submis- 
sively and  to  turn  humbly  and  in  penitence  to  the  Lord. 

1.  Elihu  also  proceeded,  and  said, 

2.  Suffei'  me  a  little,  and  I  will  shew  thee  that  I  have  yet 
to  speak  on  God's  behalf. 

3.  I  will  fetch  my  knoAvledge  from  afar,  and  will  ascribe 
righteousness  to  my  Maker. 

4.  For  truly  my  words  shall  not  he  false  :  he  that  is  perfect 
iu  knowledge  is  with  thee. 

.Wait  for  me   yet  a  little  longer  (v.  2);  "there  are  yet  more 

•words  for  God." The  clause  (v.  4) — "  One  perfect  in  knowledge 

is  before  thee  "  (Ileb.)  apparently  refers  to  himself.  "Was  not  this 
a  bold,  self-conceited  assumption  ?  Or  shall  we  put  it  to  the  account 
of  his  strong  conviction  that  he  was  sent  and  taught  of  God,  espe- 
cially when,  as  here,  he  was  laboring  to  establish  God's  rights  and 
vindicate  his  ways  toward  men  ?  In  support  of  this  view,  com- 
pare chap.  37:  16,  where  the  same  words  are  unquestionably  ap- 
plied to  God.  Elihu  must  have  felt  that  they  could  be  applied 
fitly  to  no  other  being. 

5.  Behold,  God  is  mighty,  and  despiseth  not  any:  he  is 
mighty  in  strength  and  wisdom. 

6.  He  preserveth  not  the  life  of  the  wicked :  but  giveth 
right  to  the  poor. 

7.  He  withdraweth  not  his  eyes  from  the  righteous :  but 
with  kings  are  they  on  the  throne  ;  yea,  he  doth  establish  them 
for  ever,  and  they  are  exalted. 

In  V.  5,  the  nicer  shades  of  thought  are  better  put  thus:  "_Lo, 
God  is  mighty,  yet  he  contemns  not" — as  one  of  such  power  might 

be  tempted  or  presumed  to  do. "  Mighty  is  he  in  strength  of 

understanding" — which  extols  his  power  of  mind — not  his  power 

over  matter. "Preserveth  not   the  life  of  the   wicked"  should 

rather  be — He  does  not  give  them  life  in  the  highest  and  best 
sense  of  the  word — real  prosperity,  true  enjoyment.  But  he  does 
award  righteousness  to  the  poor;  "literally — "  The  right  of  the  suf- 
fering he  will  give." "  His  eyes  are  evermore  upon  the  right- 
eous"— never  withdrawn;    and  "with  kings   on    the  throne    he 


190  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXXVI. 

makes  them  sit  forever,  and  they  are  exalted  in  honor."  The 
doctrine  is — Great  prosperity  and  high  honor  to  the  righteous. 

8.  And  if  they  be  bound  in  fetters,  and  be  holden  in  cords 
of  affliction  ; 

9.  Then  he  sbeweth  them  their  work,  and  their  transgres- 
sions that  they  have  exceeded. 

10.  He  openeth  also  their  ear  to  discipline,  and  conimand- 
eth  that  they  return  from  iniquity. 

11.  If  they  obey  and  serve  him,  they  shall  spend  their 
days  in  prosperity,  and  their  years  in  pleasures. 

12.  But  if  they  obey  not  they  shall  perish  by  the  sword, 
and  they  shall  die  without  knowledge. 

If  they  find  themselves  involved  in  calamity,  caught  suddenly 
within  its  tight  bands,  it  must  be  assumed  that  they  have  sinned, 
and  that  God  is  chastening  them  in  discipline.  "  lie  shows  them 
their  work," — their  misdeeds,  sins. Not — "that  they  have  ex- 
ceeded"— but  that  the;/  have  dealt  proudly — have  been  lifted  up 
in  pride.  God  laboi's  to  open  their  ear  to  his  instruction  and 
would  turn  them  back  from  their  sin.  If  they  accept  his  counsel, 
all  is  well;  their  prosperity  returns:  if  they  refuse,  they  speedily 
perish. 

13.  But  the  hypocrites  in  heart  heap  up  wrath :  they  cry 
not  when  he  bindeth  them. 

14.  They  die  in  youth,  and  their  life  is  among  the  unclean. 

The  word  translated  "  hj^pocrite,"  here  as  usually  throughout 
this  book,  does  not  suggest  a  false  pretender,  one  who  wears  a 
mask  to  deceive  ;  but  rather  one  who  is  bad  at  heart  without  refer- 
ence to  pretension.  The  rotten-hearted,  the  sin-loving  who  have 
no  fear  of  God  in  their  souls — these  heap  up  wrath  against  them- 
selves. When  they  become  bound  in  the  fetters  of  some  great 
affliction  (as  in  v.  8),  they  never  cry  to  God  in  prayer  for  relief. 
Of  course  they  die  young.  Their  life  goes  out  among  the  vilest, 
foulest  of  mortals. 

15.  He  delivereth  the  poor  in  his  affliction,  and  open- 
eth their  ears  in  oppression. 

16.  Even  so  would  he  have  removed  thee  out  of  the  strait 
into  a  broad  place,  where  there  is  no  straitness  ;  and  that 
which  should  be  set  on  thy  table  should  be  full  of  fatness. 

V.  15  seems  to  be  a  general  statement  made  to  introduce  the 
application  of  its  doctrine  to  the  case  of  Job,  as  in  v.  16  and  on- 
ward.  The  point  for  critical  inquiry  turns  on  the  words  "  the 

poor"  :  Is  he  thought  of  simply  as  a  sufferer,  or  is  he  also  ''poor 
in  spirit" — not  proud  but  humble?  This  is  the  same  word  we 
had  in  v.  6;  "Giveth  the  rischt  of  the  poor."    Plainly  this  poor 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXXVI.  191 

one  in  iinHctinn  is  not  supposed  to  be  in  rebellion  against  God. 
Perhaps  the  true  view  is  that  as  a  sufferer,  God  has  compassion 
on  him  and  labors  to  open  his  ear  to  divine  counsel  and  turn  his 

heart  to  repentance. The  words — "  in  oppression  "  mean  only 

— one  in  distress,  not  one  guilty  of  oppressing  others. Applying 

this  doctrine  to  Job,  Eliliu  proceeds  to  say — "And  thee,  [O  Job], 
he  would  allure  from  out  of  the  jaws  [mouth]  of  the  straits,  into 
a  broad  place,  having  no  straitness  underneath  (or  beyond)  it ; 
and  the  food  on  thy  table  should  be  full  of  fatness. 

17.  But  thou  hast  fulfilled  the  judgment  of  the  wicked  : 
judgment  and  justice  take  hold  on  thee. 

18.  Because  there  is  wrath,  beivare  lest  he  take  thee  away 
with  his  stroke  :  then  a  great  ransom  can  not  deliver  thee. 

19.  Will  he  esteem  thy  riches?  no,  not  gold,  nor  all  the 
forces  of  strength. 

The  "judgment  of  the  wicked  ''  is  here  the  mental  judgments 
which  they  form,  the  counsels  and  ways  of  life  they  clioose  and 
follow.  Elihu  plays  on  the  double  sense  of  the  word  "fill."  In- 
stead of  having  a  table  filled  with  fatness,  thou  hast  chosen  to 
fill  thy  heart  with  the  judgments  of  wicked  men.  Because  thou 
hast  done  this,  judgment  and  justice  will  lay  hold  upon  thee — the 
same  word,  "judgment,"  being  used  here  as  in  the  first  clause, 
with  a  play  upon  its  two  very  diverse  senses.  Since  thou  hast 
filled   thine  heart  with  the  vile  judgments  of  wicked  men,  God 

will  make  his  judgments  of  justice  take  hold  of  thee. ^In  the 

first  clause  of  v.  18  our  English  misses  the  exact  sense  of  the 
Hebrew,  rendered  "  take  thee  away."  I  translate: — "Beware  lest 
resentment  excite  thee  against  the  chastising  stroke.  It  is  the 
same  verb  which  in  v.  16  might  be  rendered,  allure  in  the  good 
sense — draw,  attract.  As  God  labors  to  draw  thee  out  of  the  straits 
into  a  broad  place,  so  do  thou  beware  lest  anger  [in  the  form  of 
resentment]  should  stir  thee  up  to  resist  his  chastising  hand.  In 
Elihu's  view,  this  was  the  case  with  Job — the  great  mistake  of 
his  life.  Instead  of  yielding  himself  to  be  drawn,  as  God  would 
fain  have  done,  into  penitence,  and  so,  out  of  his  strait  place  into 
a  broad  and  blessed  one,  he  had  suffered  his  resentment  to  fire  up 
against  God's  chastising  rod.  Of  this  Elihu  begs  him  to  beware 
because  from  this  sin  even  a  great  ransom  can  not  deliver.     For 

such  a  sin  no  atonement  can  be  found. Dost  thou  imagine  that 

great  wealth  can  conciliate  the  Almighty  ?  Elihu  asks  the  ques- 
tion and  leaves  it  to  suggest  its  own  answer. In  v.  19,  instead 

of  "  No,  not  gold,"  the  punctuation  of  the  original  gives  us  this 
reading  of  the  verse  : — Will  he  esteem  thy  riches — not  in  small 
amount — and  all  the  resources  of  wealth  ? How  absurd  to  im- 
agine that  thy  riches  will  conciliate  his  favor  and  buy  the  pardon 

of  thy  great  sin  ! Home  excellent  critics  however  read  the  verse 

essentially  as  in  the  English  version — Will  he  esteem  thy  riches  ? 
Not  even  gold  ore,  nor  all  the  resources  of  wealth. 


192  THE   BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXVI. 

20.  Desire  not  the  night,  when  peojile  are  cut  off  in  their 
place. 

The  "  night"  of  death  is  in  mind  here,  for  Job  had  repeatedly 
expressed  his  longing  desii'c  to  die.  (See  14:  13  and  3:  20-23). 
The  last  clause,  putting  the  thought  in  briefest  form,  means  this: 
For  the  nations  to  go  to  the  ivorld  beloic.  This  is  the  outcome  of 
that  night  of  death. 

21.  Take  heed,  regard  not  iniquity  :  for  this  hast  thou 
chosen  rather  than  affliction. 

One  word  of  special  exhortation  : — Take  heed ;  turn  not  unto 
[or  toward]  iniquity,  for  toward  this  hast  thou  turned  rather  than 
suflFer  affliction  [patiently].  This,  Elihu  thought,  had  been  the 
great  mistake  and  sin  of  Job.  Instead  of  bearing  his  sufferings 
submissively,  he  had  allowed  his  heart  to  be  turned  toward  com- 
plaints of  God,  even  to  the  extent  of  charging  him  with  in- 
justice. 

22.  Behold,  God  exalteth  by  his  power:  who  teacheth 
like  him? 

23.  Who  hath  enjoined  hina  his  way  ?  or  who  can  say,  Thou 
hast  wrought  iniquity? 

24.  Remember  that  thou  magnify  his  work,  which  men 
behold. 

25.  Kvery  man  may  see  it ;  man  may  behold  it  afar  off. 
From,  this  point  onward  Elihu  extols  the  great  power  of  God 

as  manifested  in  the  vapor,  the  rain,  the  storm,  the  clouds  and 
lightnings  of  the  sky.  His  aim  seems  to  have  been  to  inspire 
reverence  and  awe — qualities  in  which  he  supposed  Job  greatly 

deficient. God  exalteth — not  others — but  himself     He  shows 

himself  to  be  great  and  glorious.  Who  can  teach  as  God 
does  in  these  great  works  of  his  wisdom  and  power  ?  Who  is 
higher  than  He  that  he  should  direct  Him  what  to  do  and  hoio  ? 
Who  can  impute  to  Him  aught  of  wrong?  Remember  that  thou 
magnify  his  work  which  men  fitly  celebrate  in  song — this  being 
the  sense  of  the  Hebrew,  rather  than  "  behold." 

26.  Behold,  God  is  great,  and  we  know  him  not,  neither 
can  the  number  of  his  years  be  searched  out. 

27.  For  he  maketh  small  the  drops  of  Avater:  they  pour 
down  rain  according  to  the  vapor  thei-eof. 

28.  Which  the  clouds  do  drop  and  distill  upon  man  abun- 
dantly. 

Here  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God  are  illustrated  from  the 
perpetual  changes  in  the  waters  of  our  globe,  passing  by  evapora- 
tion from  the  earth's  surface  into  the  atmosphere;  then  condensed 
and  f\illing  in  showers — to  rise  again  in  the  form  of  vapor.  In 
V.  27  there  is  some  difficulty  in  determining  the  precise  sense  of 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXXVI.  193 

the  verb,  gvowintj  out  of  our  ignorance  of  the  prevalent  ideas 
of  the  ago  as  to  these  processes  of  nature  (or  rather  of  God)  in 
evaporation.  It  is  scarcely  admissible  to  shape  our  interpretation  to 
meet  the  now  well-known  doctrines  of  modern  science.  And  we 
know  too  little  of  the  state  of  the  most  ancient  science  to  avail  our- 
selves of  its  light  in  our  interpretation-  The  best  critics  mostly 
agree  in  putting  vs.  27  and  28  thus  :  "  For  he  draws  up  the  water- 
drops  (?.  e.,  by  evaporation);  they  pour  out  (or  as  some  make  it, 
pnrifj/)  the  rain  for  his  vapor,  with  which  the  skies  flow  down  and 
distill  upon  man  abundantly."  If  the  sense  purify  be  accepted, 
it  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  most  impure  waters  are  purified  by 

exhalation  and  fall  again  in  perfect  purity. These  processes 

Ity  which  a  considerable  portion  of  the  waters  of  our  globe  are 
kept  in  constant  circulation,  evermore  passing  through  changes 
supremely  beneficent  to  man,  have  been  in  all  ages  the  admiration 
of  observing  minds,  being  among  the  most  obvious  manifestions 
of  God's  wisdom  and  beneficence. 

29.  Also  can  amj  understand  the  spreadings  of  the  clouds, 
or  the  noise  of  his  tabernacle  ? 

30.  Behold,  he  spreadeth  his  light  upon  it,  and  covereth 
the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

V.  29  refers  to  the  phenomena  of  thunder  ("  the  noise  of  his 
tent"),  and  hence,  instead  of  "  the  spreadings  of  the  clouds,"  we 
may  better  translate — the  hursting  of  the  clouds,  for  under  the 
awful  thunder's  crash,  they  seem  to  burst  asunder.    The  etymology 

of  the  Hebrew  word  admits  this  sense. In  v.  30  it  is  better  to 

see  a  present  God  than  a  merely  impersonal  something  ("  it"), 
reading  the  verse  thus : — Behold  he  spreads  his  light  round 
about  himself;  he  covers  himself  with  the  waters  of  the  ocean's 

depths — literally,  with  the  roots  of  the  sea. Dwelling  in  light 

unapproachable,  yet  veiling  himself  from  human  eyes  behind  the 
dark  waters  and  thick  clouds  of  the  sky.  We  must  bear  in  mind 
that  the  orientals  thought  of  God's  throne  as  above  the  lower 
heavens,  and  they  also  conceived  immense  masses  of  Avaters 
above  the  firmament  as  well  as  other  masses  below  it,  on  the 
earth's  surface.  This  firmament,  according  to  Gen.  1,  constituted 
a  dividing  wall,  or  rather  a  beaten  out  and  solid  expanse  of  firm 
matter  which  supported  the  superincumbent  waters,  but  let 
them  out  from  time  to  time  through  the  windows  of  heaven — 
sluice-gates  in  the  sky — through  which  waters  rushed  out  to  fill 
the  clouds  and  make  the  showers. 

31.  For  by  them  judgeth  he  the  people ;  he  giveth  meat 
in  abundance. 

32.  With  clouds  he  covereth  the  light;  and  commandeth 
it  not  to  shine  by  the  clmid  that  cometh  betwixt. 

33.  The  noise  thereof  sheweth  concering  it,  the  cattle  also 
concerning  the  vapor. 


194  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXXVII. 

Beautifully,  Elihu  regards  these  agencies  of  God  in  the  distri- 
bution of  the  waters  of  our  world  as  shaped  to  the  purposes 
of  his  moral  government  over  men — supplying  rain  in  abundance 
to  fertilize  the  earth  and  provide  food  for  man ;   or  withholding  it 

to  visit  guilty  men  with  drought  and  famine. In  v.  32  it  were 

quite  a  vain  endeavor  either  to  justify  our  English  version  or  to 
interpret  it.  But  if  we  hold  in  mind  the  subject  of  thought — the 
phenomena  of  thunder — we  may  translate  both  intelligibly  and 
forcibly: — He  puts  the  light  (/.  e.,  of  the  lightning's  flash)  as  a 
coA'ering  over  the  palms  of  his  hands  and  gives  it  a  commission 

against    the    enemy. Then  v.  33,  thus  : — His  thunder  speaks 

[makes  revelations]  of  him — to  the  herds  of  cattle  even — of  Him 

who  is  on  high. As  to  the  last  word,  there  is  no  authority  for 

the  sense  "  vapor." 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

Conclusion  of  Elihu  s  speech. 

In  its  general  course  of  thought,  this  chapter  resumes,  continues 
and  fills  out  the  theme  which  commenced  36  :  26,  viz.,  the  wisdom 
manifested  by  God  in  his  agencies  in  our  atmosphere — clouds, 
rain,  storm,  lightning,  the  ice  of  winter  and  the  warmth  of  sum- 
mer. Most  appropriately  these  agencies  are  so  presented  as  to 
inspire  reverence  and  awe — moral  impressions  which  Elihu  as- 
sumes may  be  useful  to  his  suffering  but  not  sufiiciently  reverent 
friend. 

1.  At  this  also  my  heart  trembleth,  and  is  moved  out  of 
his  pkce. 

Following  the  thought  with  which  the  last  chapter  closed,  the 
speaker  says — Not  the  beasts  of  the  field  only  give  tokens  of  alarm 
before  the  approaching  thunder-storm,  but  "  my  heart  trembles 
and  starts  from  its  place:"  thrilled  with  terror,  it  would  fiiin  spring 
away  to  hide  itself  from  this  august  presence ! 

2.  Hear  attentively  the  noise  of  his  voice,  and  the  sound 
tliat  goeth  out  of  his  mouth. 

3.  He  directeth  it  under  the  whole  heaven,  and  his  light- 
ning unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

4.  After  it  a  voice  roareth :  he  thundereth  with  the  voice 
of  his  excellency ;  and  he  will  not  stay  them  when  his  voice 
is  heard. 

5.  God  thundereth  marvelously  with  his  voice;  great 
things  doeth  he,  which  we  can  not  comprehend. 


THE  BOOK  OF    JOB. — CHAP.   XXXVII.  l'.)') 

Pause,  ()  Job,  and  listen  attentively  to  the  roar  of  .Tcliovali's 
voice  when  he  speaks  in  the  rolling  tluinder,  shaping  its  eonrso 
under  the  whole  heaven,  flashing  its  lightnings  to  the  ends  of  the 

earth. "He  will  not  stay  them  when  his  voice  is  heard."     He 

detains  not  the  lightnings  but  lets  them  fly  when  his  voice  of 
thunder  goes  abroad.  Great  things  God  works  in  earth  and  sky, 
far  beyond  our  comprehension. 

6.  For  he  saitli  to  the  snow,  Be  thou  on  the  earth  :  likewise 
to  the  small  rain,  and  to  the  great  rain  of  his  strength. 

7.  He  sealeth  up  the  hand  of  every  man  ;  that  all  men 
may  know  his  work, 

8.  Then  the  beasts  go  into  dens,  and  remain  in  their  places. 

At  his  command  come  the  snow,  and  both  the  gentle  and  the 
mighty  rain.  In  those  oriental  countries,  the  distinction  between 
the  soft,  mild  shoAver  and  the  pouring  storm  was  strongly  marked. 
The  autumn  rains  began  gently,  swelling  during  winter  to  the 
great  rain,  and  closing  with  the  latter  rain  which  again  was 
modei'ate.     God's  hand  shaped  all  these  diversities  of  rain-fall  in 

wisdom  and  in  love. The  "sealing  up  of  every  man's  hand," 

is  no  other  than  the  sealing  up  of  the  earth  with  the  icy  bands 
of  winter,  so  that  man  is  compelled  to  desist  from  his  labors  in  the 
field — God's  design  in  this   being,   in  part,  that  man   may  have 

leisure  to  study  and  learn  of  God. We  should  not  read  it — 

"that  men  may  know  his  work,"  but  thus; — that  the  men  of  his 
work  [workmanship]  may  know  [him].  Men  are  definitely 
thought  of  as  the  work  of  God's  hand,  and  therefore  under  most 

sacred  obligation  to  know  their  Maker. In  this  winter  season, 

the  beasts  also  in  a  similar  manner  retire  to  their  dens  and  remain 
there. 

9.  Out  of  the  .south  cometh  the  whirlwhul :  and  cold  out 
of  the  north. 

10.  By  the  breath  of  God  frost  is  given  :  and  the  breadth 
of  the  waters  is  straitened. 

From  the  south  came  the  great  whirlwinds  of  that  climate.  The 
south  is  called  in  Hebrew  "God's  secret  chamber"  because  the 

southern  hemisphere  was  little  known. God  is  seen  every-whero 

in  all  these  ardencies  of  nature;  the  north  winds  which  bring  down 

cold  and  ice  are  but  his    breath. The  whole  breadth  of  the 

rivers  is  bridged  and  held  firmly  as  if  compressed,  by  the  ice. 

11.  Also  by  watering  he  wearieth  the  thick  cloud:  he 
scattereth  his  bright  cloud  : 

12.  And  it  is  turned  round  about  by  his  counsels:  that 
they  may  do  whatsoever  he  commandeth  them  upon  the  face 
of  the  world  in  the  earth. 


3  96  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXXVII. 

13.  He  causetli  it  to  come,  ^vhether  for  correction,  or  for 
his  land,  or  for  mercy. 

Not  by  "  Avateving  "  in  its  usual  sense — sprinkling  water — but 
with  moisture,  i.  e.,  by  supplying  water  freely,  he  loads  [burdens] 
the  thick  clouds.  He  also  spreads  abroad  his  lightning  cloud:  it 
is  made  to  turn  this  way  and  that  by  his  guiding  hand  to  do  all 
he  commands  over  the  face  of  the  whole  world.  He  causes  it  to 
find  [and  execute]  its  work  [Heb.],  whether  as  a  rod  [of  correc- 
tion] upon  his  land,  or  for  mercy  [blessings]. 

14.  Hearken  unto  this,  O  Job :  stand  still,  and  consider 
the  Avondrous  Avorks  of  God. 

15.  Dost  thou  kuoAv  Avhen  God  disposed  them,  and  caused 
the  light  of  his  cloud  to  shine  ? 

At  this  point  Elihu  begs  Job  to  pause  for  the  practical  appli- 
cation— Stand :  Consider  ;  wert  thou  in  God's  secret  counsels  when 
he  set  his  thought  upon  these  works  in  nature  and  sent  forth  the 

flash  of  his  lightning-cloud? If  not,  then   admit   that  God's 

thoughts  are  deeper  and  more  vast  than  thine  I 

16.  Dost  thou  knoAV  the  balancings  of  the  clouds,  the  Avon- 
drous Avorks  of  him  Avhich  is  perfect  in  knoAvledge  ? 

17.  HoAV  thy  garments  are  Avarm,  Avhen  he  quieteth  the 
earth  by  the  south  ivindf 

18.  Hast  thou  Avith  him  spread  out  tlie  sky,  ivhlch  is  strong, 
and  as  a  molten  looking-glass  ? 

The  same  idea  as  above ; — Hast  thou  been  one  of  God's  privy 
counsel  so  that  thou  hast  understood  how  to  weigh  the  clouds  so 
nicely  that  they  are  just  sustained  in  the  atmosphere  and  made 
equal  to  their  great  burden  of  water?  Dost  thou  comprehend  the 

wonders  of  him  whose  knowledge  is  really  perfect? "  Quieteth 

the  earth  by  his  south  wind" — distinguished  for  blowing  gently 
and  bringing  in  the  warm,  balmy  breath  of  summer.  Wast  thou 
icith  Him  as  counsellor  or  helper  when  He  spread  out  the  con- 
cave firmament — supposed  in  that  age  to  be  solid,  firm,  as  a  mirror 
of  polished  brass  ? 

19.  Teach  us  Avhat  Ave  shall  say  unto  him ;  for  Ave  can  not 
order  our  speech  by  reason  of  darkness. 

20.  Shall  it  be  told  him  that  I  speak?  if  a  man  speak, 
surely  he  shall  be  sAvalloAved  up. 

Perhaps  to  give  Job  a  sharper  sense  of  the  absurdity  of  the 
assumption  which  the  question  (above)  suggests,  Elihu  would  say  ; 
■ — If  thou  hast  indeed  been  in  the  privy  council  of  the  Most  High, 
then  teach  us  what  we  shall  say  to  him ;  for  we — only  common 

men — are  in  great  darkness  on  this  point. But  pause  and  think ! 

Shall  it  be  said  unto  the  Great  God — /  would  speak  unto  thee  ? 
Shall  a  man  speak  [i.  e.,  to  God]  that  he  may  be  swallowed  up? 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXXYII.  197 

or,  ■when  he  surely  will  be  ?  Elihu  remembers  those  impassioned 
words  of  Job  (23:  3-7)  — "Othat  I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him  ! 
I  would  order  my  cause  before  him  and  fill  my  mouth  with  argu- 
ments. I  would  know  the  words  he  would  answer  me,"  cto. 
Elihu  would  suggest  to  Job  that  such  bold  irreverence  might  be 

fotal. The  last  clause  of  v.  20,  as  well  as  the  first  should  be 

interrogative.  In  the  Hebrew  they  are  definitely  correlated: — Is 
it  this  way,  or  is  it  that  ? 

21.  And  now  vien  see  not  the  bright  light  which  is  in  the 
clouds :  but  the  wind  pa.sseth,  and  cleanseth  them. 

Even  now  men  can  not  gaze  on  the  sun  when  its  light  shines 
brightly  in  the  sky — when  the  wind  has  passed  over  and  cleared 
the  atmosphere.  Inference :  If  men  can  not  gaze  upon  the  open, 
unobscured  face  of  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  how  can  they  endure 
the  blazing  glory  of  the  face  of  God,  dwelling  in  the  light  which 
no  man  can  approach  unto,  whom  no  man  hath  seen  or  can  see 
(1  Tim.  6:16). 

22.  Fair  weather  cometh  out  of  the  north :  with  God  is 
terinble  majesty. 

23.  Touching  the  Almighty,  we  can  not  find  him  out :  he 
is  excellent  in  power,  and  in  judgment,  and  in  plenty  of 
justice  :  he  will  not  afflict. 

24.  Men  do  therefore  fear  him  :  he  respecteth  not  any  that 
are  wise  of  heart. 

The  Heb.  word  translated  "fair  weather"  is  the  usual  term  for 
ffold.  Critics  are  sharply  divided  between  these  two  senses  :  (a) 
A  golden  sky  of  clear,  brilliant  light,  coming  forth  from  the 
northern  regions  : — (6)  Gold  itself  as  found  in  northern  latitudes. 
The  latter  construction  would  be  taken  to  suggest  that  though  men 
go  deep  for  gold  and  bring  it  up  with  immense  labor,  yet  they  fail 
to  find  God.  But  this  fact,  though  not  bad  in  its  place,  (as  e.  r/., 
in  chap.  28)  is  here  far-fetched,  and  entirely  foreign  from  the 
course  of  thought.  The  former  construction  seems  therefore  to  be 
preferable. — The  great  thought  here  is  that  God's  majesty  is  all- 
glorious,  and  should  inspire  most  reverent  awe.  His  ways,  more- 
over, are  deep — as  to  us,  past  finding  out.  Exalted  is  he  in  power 
and  in  equity  ("judgment");  abundant  in  righteousness;  one 
who  will  never  oppress.  Therefore  sensible  men  do,  and  all  men 
should  fear  him.  On  the  other  hand,  "  he  regards  not  the  wise  of 
heart" — said  here  of  those  who  are  wise  only  in  their  own  esteem. 
Men  who  are  vain  of  their  wisdom  (perhaps  he  meant  this  for  a 
suggestion  to  Job)  find  no  special  favor  before  God.  Reverent 
awe  before  his  glorious  majesty,  and  a  due  recognition  of  his 
spotless  righteousness  and  justice,  would  be  incomparably  more 
appropriate. 

Thus  ends  the  long  speech  of  Elihu,  remarkable  both  for  what 
it  aaya  and  for  what  it  omits  to  say.     Of  what  it  says,  we  have 


198  THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XXXVII. 

already  observed  that  it  brings  out  in  strong  light — perhaps  some- 
times too  strong — the  objectionable  things  Job  had  said  as  to  his 
own  righteousness  and  God's  severe  bearing  toward  him.  Con- 
sidering hoAv  Elihu  understood  Job,  he  met  these  objectionable 
points  admirably  in  view  of  the  light  he  had  in  regard  to  God's 
character  and  ways.  Nobly  has  he  set  forth  the  majesty  and 
glory  of  God  as  seen  in  his  great  works  in  the  visible  heavens 
above  us — the  phenomena  of  cloud,  rain,  lightning,  and  storm. 
Most  truthfully  and  in  plainest  terms  has  he  testified  to  the  per- 
fect rectitude  and  justice  of  God  in  his  dealings  with  men.  On 
the  great  problem  of  suffering,  as  falling  upon  good  men,  he  has 
said  little  if  estimated  in  the  light  of  its  importance  to  the  issue 
then  pending;  yet  he  has  intimated  his  belief  that  such  sufferings 
arc  disciplinary  and  corrective,  and  that,  if  they  accomplish  the 
end  sought  and  bring  the  sufferer  to  humble  resignation  and  true 
repentance,  God  will  surely  turn  his  hand  promptly  from  the 
infliction  of  suffering  to  the  bestowal  of  blessings.  Beyond  this, 
Elihu  has  not  attempted  to  fathom  the  mysteries  of  God's  admin- 
istration in  the  sufferings  of  good  men.  He  had  not  fully  reached 
the  great  doctrine  that  "  whom  the  Lord  loveth  be  chasteneth,"  and 
that  he  is  certainly  and  perfectly  benevolent,  even  in  the  pitying 
tenderness  of  a  father  to  his  children,  as  truly  in  the  pains  he 
leaves  the  good  to  suffer  as  in  the  joys  he  gives  them.  This  doc- 
trine in  its  full  development  came  at  a  later  age  with  the  advent 
of  new  and  better  light  from  the  Great  Father  of  light,  in  harmony 
with  the  general  law  of  progress  in  the  revelation  of  God  to  men. 
The  entire  speech  of  Elihu  being  now  before  us,  it  is  in  place 
here  to  inquire: 

I.  What  main  points  lie  has  viade  in  these  six  chapters,  and 
what  is  to  be  thought  of  their  bearing  upon  the  important  issues 
of  this  controversy  ;  and, 

II.  What  may  we  infer  as  to  their  influence  upon  Job  and  their 
apprn%'nl  or  otherwise  by  the  Lord  ? 

I.  What  main  points  has  Elihu  made  in  this  speech  ? 

1.  As  we  have  seen,  he  lias  rebuked  Job — (1)  For  saying,  or 
at  least  implying,  that  himself  was  more  righteous  than  God — (2) 
For  teaching  that  piety  availed  nothing  before  God;  brought  no 
more  profit  than  impiety — a  doctrine  (Elihu  maintains)  which 
wicked  men  love  and  live  upon ;  that  therefore  Job  was  playing 
into  their  hands  and  really  taking  ground  against  God  and  against 
real  piety — (3)  In  general,  for  irreverence  toward  God  and  for 
impious  presumption.  All  these  points  have  been  treated  in  our 
notes  sufficiently. 

2.  As  already  shown,  Elihu  maintained  the  doctrine  that  the 
sufferings  of  the  good  are,  at  least,  often  disciplinary,  and  consid 
ered  in  view  of  the  divine  purpose  in  their  permission,  corrective; 
and  that  if  successful  to  this  result,  God  forgives  the  sin  and 
restores  the  sinner,  now  humbled  and  penitent,  to  favor  and  to  his 
f  )rmer  prosperity.  This  was  a  long  step  in  advance  toward  the 
true  doctrine. 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP,    XXXVII.  199 

3.  lie  also  labored  to  impress  Job  with  a  sense  of  God's  ma.jesty, 
power  and  wisdom  in  his  works  of  creation  and  also  of  providence, 
especially  in  his  physical  administration  over  his  material  uni- 
verse. His  aim  was  to  deepen  Job's  reverence  and  awe  toAvard 
God — an  aim  worthy  of  the  best  of  men  and  of  their  best  endeav- 
ors. It  may  be  observed  that  this  aim  was  in  full  harmony  with 
that  of  Jehovah  himself,  who  took  up  the  effort  at  the  point  where 
EHhu  suspended  it,  and  made  it  his  main,  not  to  say  exclusive, 
aim  throughout  his  speech. 

II.  On  the  two  questions — Did  this  speech  have  any  effect 
upon  Job  ?  and,  Did  the  Lord  indorse  it  ?  we  are  met  in  the  outset 
by  the  fact  that  the  record  has  no  definite  statements  bearing  on 
either  of  these  points.  Job  made  no  reply ;  said  not  a  word  from 
which  Ave  can  infer  how  the  speech  impressed  him.,  The  Lord 
made  not  the  slightest  allusion  to  Elihu,  and  hence  gave  no  direct 
expression  of  his  thought  as  to  the  speech. Must  we  then  in- 
fer that  probably  his  speech  had  no  appreciable  influence  and 
turned  to  no  valuable  account?  That  it  neither  impressed  Job  to 
good  purpose  nor  pleased  the  Almighty  and  won  his  approbation  ? — 
Some  critics  are  understood  to  maintain  the  affirmative  on  both 
these  points,  and  on  this  ground  question,  or  deny,  the  claims  of 
his  speech  to  a  place  in  this  book. 

In  defense  of  these  claims  it  should  be  said — (a)  That  on  the 
score  of  textual  authority,  the  speech  of  Elihu  is  here  by  as  good 

right  as  any  thing  else  in  the  book. (b)  That  it  actually  fills  a 

useful  place  in  the  discussion,  administering  deserved  rebuke  to 
Job,  criticising  justly  the  notable  failure  of  Job's  three  friends, 
and  moving  upon  Job  entirely  in  the  line  of  thought  and  argu- 
ment which  the  Lord  himself  immediately  takes  up  at  the  close 
of  his  speech  and   carries  forward  till  Job  is  broken,  humbled, 

penitent,  forgiven,  and   accepted   before    God. On   the   main 

question  therefore  noAV  in  hand,  viz..  The  results  of  this  speech 
and  the  reasons  why  Job  makes  no  reply  and  the  Lord  no 
allusions  to  it,  1  come  to  these  three  conclusions  : 

1.  That  as  an  answer  to  Job  on  the  human  side,  i.  e..  from  a 
fellow-being,  from  a  man  unprejudiced  and  in  the  main  fair- 
minded,  it  was  nseful  to  Job  and  acceptable  to  God. 

2.  That  Job  made  no  answer — (a)  Because  he  felt  in  a  good 
measure  the  truth  and  justice  of  Avhat  Elihu  had  said ; — (b)  Be- 
cause he  had  nothing  to  say  by  Avay  of  objection  or  of  self- 
vindication. — (c)  Perhaps  also  because  the  Lord  began  at  the 
very  point  both  of  time  and  of  thought  where  Elihu  closed,  taking 
up  the  same  line  of  argument  which  Elihu  had  been  pressing, 
and  with  no  interval  of  unoccupied  time. 

3.  Further,  Elihu's  speech  did  make  progress  in  the  general 
argument,  and  so  far  as  appears,  helped  toward  the  immediate  re- 
sult of  bringing  Job  to  a  better  mind. 

4.  The  reasons  why  the  Lord  made  no  allusion  to  Elihu  may 
have  been  such  as  these:  (1)  What  Elihu  had  said  did  not  need 
his  formal  indorsement : — (2)  It  was  a  sufficient  though  indirect 


200  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXXVIII. 

indorsement  that  the  Lord  took  up  the  very  point  with  which 
Elihu  closed  and  pursued  it  throughout  his  own  entire  speech, 
laboring  to  impress  Job  with  a  sense  of  God's  ineffable  majesty, 
greatness  and  glory,  his  wisdom  also  and  perfect  ability  to  man- 
age the  universe  he  had  made  in  all  its  minutest  details,  and  to  the 
wisest  and  best  possible  results. — (3)  It  was  not  befitting  the  dig- 
nity and  majesty  of  God  that  he  should  formally  recognize  Elihu 
as  an  xrmpire  in  this  debate,  especially  in  a  case  in  which  he  con- 
descended to  become  the  umpire  himself — (4)  Inasmuch  as  the 
Lord  expressed  very  explicitly  his  disapprobation  of  what  Job's 
three  friends  had  said,  and  indirectly  showed  wherein  he  held  Job 
to  have  been  in  the  wrong,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  if  he 
had  disapproved  the  speech  of  Elihu,  he  would  have  said  so. 
Coupled  with  this,  the  fact  that  he  resumed  Elihu's  closing  argu- 
ment and  carried  it  forward  himself,  should  be  accepted  as  his 
sufficient  indorsement. 


oj^c 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  Lord  himselj'  appears  and  speaks. 

The  human  speakers  in  this  long  discussion  have  closed  at  last 
and  are  silent.  The  way  is  open  for  the  final  word ;  and  now  the 
Lord  appears  in  a  whirlwind  and  addresses  Job  with  sublimity 
and  grandeur  never  surpassed  in  human  speech.  Job  had  rashly 
assumed  to  know  how  the  Almighty  ought  to  govern  the  world 
and  administer  its  agencies  of  good  or  evil  over  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked.  For  this  rash  assumption  he  deserved  the 
sternest  rebuke.  This  is  therefore  the  first  and  main  point  in 
this  sublime  speech  of  Jehovah. True,  Job  had  made  no  pre- 
tensions to  special  knowledge  or  wisdom  as  to  creating  the  world 
or  ordaining  its  physical  laws,  nor  need  we  understand  the  Lord 
to  assume  that  he  has.  But  he  anight  as  icell  have  assumed  to 
know  all  about  this  material  world  and  its  ordinances  as  to  have 
made  the  analogous  assumption  in  respect  to  God's  moral  adminis- 
tration. This  fact  suggests  the  logic  of  the  speech  before  us.  Un- 
derneath it  lies  the  great  truth  that  it  requires  no  less  wisdom  to 
govern  a  world  of  moral  agents  on  probation  than  to  create  a 
material  universe  and  ordain  its  physical  laws.  Unquestionably 
the  fact  is  that  the  moral  universe  as  compared  with  the  physical 
demands  and  calls  into  exercise  incomparably  greater  wisdom  and 
poAver.  Now  Job  had  boldly  assumed  to  pass  his  judgment  upon 
the  moral  administration  of  the  Most  High.  To  answer  him,  the 
Lord  puts  it  to  him  to  say  where  he  was  when  the  Great  Creator 
spake  this   material  world  into  being  and  ordained  its  laws  and 


THE    BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXYIII.  201 

put  in  motion  the  wonderful  meclianism  of  suns  and  planets ; 
of  rivers  and  ocean  depths,  of  light  and  heat,  of  summer  and 
winter — of  all  the  agencies  wise  and  beneficent  for  the  good  of 
man.  Throughout  this  protracted  appeal  the  underlying  implica- 
tion is  of  this  sort :  If  thou  art  not  old  enough,  nor  wise  enough,  nor 
mighty  enough,  to  do  these  lesser  things,  how  couldest  thou  assume 
to  be  equal  to  the  greater  task  of  governing  intelligent  and  moral 

beings  under  a  scheme  of  moral  probation? It  might  perhaps 

be  added  that,  while  human  thought  is  dull  and  shallow  in  the 
just  appreciation  of  the  infinitely  delicate  and  difficult  manage- 
ment of  free  acting  moral  agents,  it  is  comparatively  more  easy  to 
impress  upon  men  the  glorious  sublimity  and  majesty  of  God,  as 
well  as  his  wisdom  and  power  also,  by  bringing  forth  to  his  view 
the  more  tangible  and  apprehensible  manifestations  of  God  in  the 
world  of  matter.  So  it  often  is  that  God  puts  infant  minds  at 
school  in  the  realm  of  matter  to  train  them  into  the  higher  and 
more  difficult  lessons  in  the  realm  of  mind  and  morals. 

1.  Then  the  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind, 
and  said, 

2.  Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without 
knowledge  ? 

3.  Gird  up  now  tliy  loins  like  a  man ;  for  I  will  demand 
of  thee :  and  answer  thou  me. 

Nothing  can  surpass  the  sublime  dignity  or  the  telling  force  of 
the  first  words  ;  "  Who  is  this  "  ?  this  creature  of  a  day  ;  this  be- 
ing so  infinitesimally  small,  so  very  weak,  of  so  little  knowledge  ! 
Who  is  he  that  thus  sheds  darkness  and  not  light  over  the  mo- 
mentous questions  involved  in  governing  the  universe  ?  Who  is 
this   that    makes  such  a  display   of  words,  with    no  knowledge 

therein? "Gird   up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man" — for  there  is 

earnest  work  to  be  done,  and  the  utmost  manly   energy  will  be 

called  into  requisition. The  word  chosen  here  for  man  is  not 

that  one  which  suggests  his  earth-born  origin  [Adam],  nor  that 
which  specially  distinguishes  his  sex  as  compared  with  woman 
[ish]  ;  but  is  the  one  which  suggests  the  hero — the  man  of  mas- 
terly vigor  and  power — the  very  embodiment  of  manliness. 1 

will  demand  of  thee,  and  inform  thou  me  ;  make  me  know  in  an- 
swer to  the  inquiries  I  put.  The  Avord  "answer"  comes  short  of 
the  full  sense. 

4.  Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
earth?  declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding. 

5.  Who  hath  laid  the  measures  thereof,  if  thou  knowest  ? 
or  who  hath  stretched  the  line  U2:)on  it  ? 

6.  Whereupon  ai-e  the  foundations  thereof  fxstened  ?  or 
who  laid  the  corner-stone  thereof? 

7.  When  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sous 
of  God  shouted  for  joy  ? 


202  THE  BOOK   OF    JOB. — CHAP.  XXXVIII. 

As  we  oujiht  to  expect,  the  building  and  construction  of  tliia 
material  globe  are  expressed  in  correspondence  with  the  current 
ideas  of  the  age.  A  use  of  terms  and  forms  of  statement  more 
scientifically  accurate  (according  to  modern  science),  it  were  simple 
folly  in  us  to  demand.     The  effect  sought  in  this  speech  was  not 

instruction  in  physical  science  but  a  sublime  moral  impression. 

The  observant  reader  will  notice  that  both  the  phraseology  and 
the  conception  in  this  chapter  are  entirely  in  harmony  with  Gen- 
esis— as  if  the  same  Moses  wrote  both. "Where  wast  thou"  ? 

The  great  Creator  saAv  nothing  of  thee  ;  where  couldest  thou  have 

been  on  that  august  morning  of  earth's  creation? Who  made 

the  measurements  (v.  5)  for  this   stupendous  building? Not 

"(/"thou  knowest,"  but  ^\for  thou  wilt  know"— this  being  the 
normal,  not  to  say  necessary  sense  of  the  Hebrew  words.  The 
verb  is  in  the  Hebrew  future  tense  Avhich  admits  some  latitude  of 
meaning — e.  g.,  Thou  shouldest  know;  shouldest  be  expected  to 
know  since  thou  hast  assumed  to  sit  in  judgment  on  God's  moral 
administration; — ovghtest  to  know  in  order  to  justify  such  as- 
sumptions.    There  may  pei'haps  be  a  slight  tinge  of  irony — against 

which  there  can  be  no  valid  objection. Instead  of  "  hath  laid  " 

and  ^^  hath  stretched,"  the  simple  imperfeet  tense  "who  laid" — 
"  Avho  stretched  " — would  be  better,  the  reference  being  to   acts 

finished   in  that  birth-hour  of  creation. Upon  what  were    its 

massive  foundations  sunken  (this  being  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew 
word). "  The  morning  stars  "  (v.  7)  are  synonymous  and  par- 
allel with  "  the  sons  of  God,"  both  phrases  referring  to  angelic  or- 
ders of  being  in  existence  before  our  Avorld  was  made.  The  word 
"star"  in  the  sense  of  one  eminently  distinguished,  was  in  use 
among  the  Hebrews,  as  we  may  see  in  Num.  24:  17 — "  There  shall 
come  a  star  out  of  Jacob,"  etc. — also  Kev.  22 :  16 — "  I  am  the 
bright  and  the  morning  star."     Of  analogous  sort  is  Isa.  14:  12. 

It  was  a  pertinent  question  to  ask  how  it  happened  that  in  the 

sublime  chorus  of  joy  when  the  welkin  of  the  upper  heavens  rang 
with  hallelujahs  of  praise  to  the  great  Creator  of  this  lower  world, 
Job  ivas  not  there!  Where  was  he  then  ?  What  could  he  have 
been  doing  that  he  should  miss  this  stupendous  gathering?  What 
could  have  engrossed  his  attention,  of  sublimer,  vaster  moment, 
than  this  praise-song  of  the  morning  ages ! 

We  scarcely  need  say  that  the  conception  of  such  a  song  is 
itself  sublimely  grand,  and  no  doubt  gloriously  true  !  Ah,  did 
they  foresee  what  was  to  transpire  upon  this  beautiful  earth 
ere  its  final  conflagration  ?  Had  any  whisper  ran  through  their 
shining  ranks  that  a  race  of  younger  brethren  were  to  be  planted 
there;  that  sin  would  enter  the  Eden  of  its  beauty  and  doom  this 
brother  race  to  the  ruin  of  death  ;  that  the  Son  of  God  would  be- 
come incarnate  for  their  redemption  ;  and  that  in  the  end  a  world 
redeemed  would  swell  the  chorus  of  heaven  with  its  "  new  song  " 

forever  and  forever  ? Of  only  one  thing  we  may  be  sure,  viz., 

that  if  their  angelic  song  were  not  inspired  in  any  measure  by 
prophecy,  it  was  the  more  surely  inspired  by  faith — a  faith  that 


THE   BOOK    OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XXXVIII.  203 

the  Great  Creator  had  some  far-reaching  plan  and  grand  results 
in  his  unfatliomable  thought.  The  moral  sublimity  of  such  faith, 
it  is  elevating  and  glorious  to  contemplate. 

8.  Or  u'Jio  shut  up  tlie  sea  with  doors,  when  it  brake  forth, 
as  if  it  had  issued  out  of  the  womb? 

9.  AVhen  I  made  the  cloud  the  garment  thereof,  and  thick 
darkness  a  swaddling  band  for  it, 

10.  And  brake  up  for  it  my  decreed  j-'^'^^^'^:  ^^^(^  ^ct  bars 
and  doors, 

11.  And  said,  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further: 
and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed  ? 

Next,  the  production  and  disposal  of  the  great  waters  of  our 
globe,  thought  of  as  a  birth  from  the  womb  of  creation  ;  then  like 
an  infiint  child,  wrapped  in  swathing-bands  of  cloud  ;  then  assigned 
to  its  place  and  rigidly   circumscribed  within    bounds  whicla  it 

must  not  pass  over. In  v.  9,  for  "  thick  darkness,"  read  tJiick 

cloud,  which  is  precisely  the  etymological  sense  of  the  original. 

In  V.  10,  the  English  version  is  wide  of  the  true  sense,  which  is; 

And  then  I  assigned  my  boioids  to  it.  The  Hebrew  words  have 
primary  application  to  the  head  of  a  household  breaking  off  to 
everyone  his  portion  of  bread,  from  which  came  the  broader  sense 
of  marking  off  due  bounds  or  limits — here  to  the  great  waters  of 
the  deep. 

12.  Hast  thou  commanded  the  morning  since  tliy  days; 
and  caused  the  day-spring  to  know  his  place ; 

13.  That  it  might  take  hold  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  that 
the  wicked  might  be  shaken  out  of  it? 

Not  to  press  farther  the  question  what  thou  hast  known  or  done, 
of  that  which  took  place  long  ages  before  thou  wert  born  ;  let  me 
ask  now  what  thou  hast  done  as  to  certain  things  "since  thy 
days"  [began]?  Since  thy  birth  into  this  glorious  world,  hast 
thou,  day  by  day,  commanded  the  morning  to  come  on  and  made 
the  dav-spring  know  its  place,  that  it  might  grasp  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  tliat  the  wicked  might  be  shaken  [with  fear],  and  driven 
out  of  it — ?'.  e.,  driven  from  their  usual  works  of  darkness  ?  The 
reader  will  find  a  clue  to  the  meaning  of  this  in  24:  16,  17. 
Wicked  men  work  their  deeds  in  the  darkness  and  flee  in  terror 
from  the  approach  of  day.  The  morning  dawn  therefore  "  shakes 
them  out"  of  the  active  business  world  in  which  they  move. 

14.  It  is  turned  as  clay  to  the  seal ;  and  they  stand  as  a  gar- 
ment. 

15.  And  from  the  wicked  their  light  is  withholden,  and 
the  high  arm  shall  be  broken. 

The  face  of  the  earth  is  changed,  under  the  rising  light  of  the 


204  THE   BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XXXVIII. 

Bun,  as  clay  when  impressed  by  the  signet-ring.  Its  mass  which 
under  the  darkness  had  seemed  shapeless  and  void  of  beauty,  sud- 
denly under  the  sunlight  puts  on  all  forms  of  beauty,  even  as  the 
shapeless  clay-lump  takes  the  nice  impressions  of  the  signet. 
Then  all  earth's  beauty  stands  forth  as  in  gay  apparel ;  or  perhaps 
the  whole  idea  may  be,  its  beauties  are  all  before  you,  apparent  as 

one's  outer  garment. V.  15  reiterates  the  sentiment  of  v.  13. 

As  to  the  wicked,  their  light  is  the  darkness ;  their  day  of  work  is 
the  night.  When  darkness  is  withholden  from  them,  being  dis- 
pelled by  the  glorious  sun,  their  high  arm  is  broken,  their  power 
for  evil  gone. 

16.  Hast  tliou  entered  into  the  springs  of  the  sea?  or  hast 
thou  walked  in  the  search  of  the  depth  ? 

17.  Have  the  gates  of  death  been  opened  unto  thee?  or 
hast  thou  seen  the  doors  of  the  shadow  of  death  ? 

Has  Job  pushed  his  travels  and  researches  into  the  depths  of 

the  sea,  and  down  to  the  gates  of  the  under-world  ? The  sea  is 

supposed  to  be  fed  by  springs  at  its  bottom :  Has  Job  been  down 
to  explore  them  ?  or  has  he  traversed  the  unexplored  depths  of  the 
ocean  ? — traversed,  walking  to  and  fro,  is  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew. 
— Instead  of  saying — "  In  the  search"  it  should  be — In  the  realms 
never  yet  searched,  or  the  places  that  will  forever  remain  to  be 

explored. Moreover,  hast  thou  been  down  to  the  very  gates  of 

the  deep  world  below,  and  were  those  gates  opened  to  admit  thee  ? 
Hast  thou  even  seen  those  gates  of  death-shade  ? 

18.  Hast  thou  perceived  tlie  breadth  of  the  earth?  declare 
if  thou  knowest  it  all. 

19.  Where  is  the  way  ivhere  light  dwelleth  ?  and  as  for 
darkness,  where  is  the  place  thereof, 

20.  That  thou  shouldest  take  it  to  the  bound  thereof,  and 
that  thou  shouldest  know  the  paths  to  the  house  thereof? 

21.  Knowest  thou  it,  because  thou  wast  then  born?  or 
because  the  number  of  thy  days  is  great  ? 

As  to  the  earth's  surface,  hast  thou  explored  it  to  its  uttermost 
breadth?  Declare  if  thou  knowest  all  this  !  The  abode  of  light  and 
the  home  of  the  darkness-^hast  thou  been  there  and  found  their 
local  habitation  and  learned  how  to  conduct  them  to  their  respec- 
tive homes  and  to  bring  them  forth  in  their  appointed  times  ? 

In  V.  21  the  Hebrew  gives  no  sign  of  a  question.  The  affirmative 
construction  is  therefore  true  to  the  original:  "Thou  knowest — 
(certainly !  )  for  thou  wast  then  already  born,  and  the  number  of 
thy  years  is  great !  "  Irony  of  course  ;  but  a  forcible  way  of  putting 
home  to  Job's  mind  the  folly  of  his  daring  assumption. 

22.  Hast  thou  entered  into  the  treasures  of  the  snow  ?  or 
hast  thou  seen  the  treasures  of  the  hail, 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.   XXXVIII.  205 

23.  Which  I  have  reserved  agahist  the  time  of  trouble, 
against  the  day  of  battle  and  war  ? 

Accoi'ding  to  the  conceptions  current  in  all  classic  and  oriental 
literature,  snow  and  hail  arc  thought  of  as  deposited  in  vast  store- 
houses, treasured  for  use  upon  call  from  their  Infinite  Maker; 
here  said  to  be  reserved  in  store  for  the  day  of  battle  and  war, 
when  God  goes  forth  against  his  enemies. 

24.  By  what  way  is  the  light  parted,  ^vhich  scattereth  the 
east  wind  upon  the  earth? 

25.  Who  hath  divided  a  water  course  for  the  overflowing 
of  waters,  or  a  way  for  the  lightning  of  thunder ; 

26.  To  cause  it  to  rain  on  the  earth,  ivhere  no  man  is;  on 
the  wilderness,  where  tliere  is  no  man  ; 

27.  To  satisfy  the  desolate  and  waste  ground ;  and  to  cause 
the  bud  of  the  tender  herb  to  spring  forth  ? 

In  V.  24,  the  sense  is  not — "  By  what  way  [manner]  is  the  light 
parted ;  but  what  is  the  way  to  the  place  whence  light  comes  forth  ? 
The  same  question  is  asked  as  to  the  point  from  which  the  east 
wind  is  sent  abroad  over  the  earth.     The  idea  is  not  by  any  means 

that  the  light  scatters  the  east  wind. Who  lays  out  the  channels 

for  the  rain  or  the  track  for  the  thunder's  flash  ?  Who  does  that 
wonderful  thing — send  rain  upon  unpeopled  deserts,  where  no 
mortal  lives  to  be  blessed  thereby? 

28.  Hath  the  rain  a  father?  or  who  hath  begotten  the 
drops  of  dew  ? 

29.  Out  of  whose  womb  came  the  ice?  and  the  hoary 
frost  of  heaven,  who  hath  gendered  it? 

30.  The  waters  are  hid  as  with  a  stone,  and  the  face  of  the 
deep  is  frozen. 

Where  is  the  limit  to  these  wonders  of  the  material  universe? 
Think : — How  came  the  rain  and  the  dew  to  exist  at  all  ?  Who  gave 

them  birth?     Had  they  a  father? The  phenomena  of  ice  are 

among  the  marvels  of  the  water  system,  noticed  in  v.  30.  The 
sense  however  is  not — tied  as  ivith  a  stone;  hut  hidden  as  m 
stone — i.  e.,  as  if  converted  into  stone. — And  the  face  of  the  deep 
coheres,  the  waters  clasping  hands  (so  to  speak)  together;  the 
particles  grasping  each  other — literally,  are  seized  and  held  fast. 

31.  Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades,  or 
loose  the  bands  of  Orion  ? 

The  Pleiades  are  the  well  known  constellation,  otherwise  called 
"  the  seven  stars."  Orion,  drawn  as  a  giant  on  the  sky  with  girdle 
about  his  loins,  is  also  among  the  best  known  constellations. 
Anciently,  the  former  appeared  in  spring ;  the  latter  in  winter. 
Whether  the  stars  themselves  were  thought  of  as  controlling  the 


206  THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXVIIT. 

climate,  bringinsj;  on  the  warmth  of  sprinji;  and  the  cold  of  winter; 
or  were  regarded  as  merely  indicating  the  seasons  because  they 
appeared  at  the  time  of  their  change,  and  their  appearance  there- 
fore came  to  be  associated  with  spring  or  with  Avinter,  it  is  neither 
easy  nor  important  to  decide.  Whichever  may  have  been  the 
current  notion  in  the  day  and  country  of  Job,  we  need  find  here 
no  scriptural  authority  for  the  doctrines  of  astrology.  In  fact, 
spring  came  Avith  the  advent  of  the  Pleiades;  winter  with  the 
appearance  of  Orion.  Hence  the  Lord  fitly  asked  Job — Dost  thou 
(not  literally  "canst")  but  dost  thou  in  fact  bind  in  clusters 
together  those  stars  of  the  Pleiades  ?  or  dost  thou  unbind  the 
stars  in  the  girdle  of  Orion,  loosing  his  girdle?  That  is;  Art  thou 
the  author  of  those  beneficent  changes  of  the  seasons  from  winter 
to  spring  which  shed  such  blessings  abroad  over  the  face  of  the 

earth  ? As  to  the  precise  sense  of  the  Hebrew  word  translated 

"sweet  influences;"  if  taken  as  it  stands  in  the  text,  its  etymo- 
logical meaning  is — delights  ;  sweet  and  precious  things:  but  if 
its  two  final  letters  should  be  transposed — (a  change  not  altogether 
infrequent  in  Hebrew  words),  Ave  have  the  sense  bands,  which 
corresponds  with  "binding"  and  "loosing,"  and  keeps  up  the 
antithesis  between  these  two  constellations. 

32.  Canst  thou  bring  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  season  ?  or 
canst  thou  guide  Arcturus  with  his  sons  ? 

"Mazzaroth" — a  Hebrew  Avord  transferred  (not  translated),  is 
a  plural  noun  and  means  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac  :  the  twelve 
stars  which  marked  off  the  entire  Zodiac  into  twelve  equal  por- 
tions through  which  the  sun  (apparently)  passes  in  the  corre- 
sponding twelve  months  of  the  year. "Arcturus"  is  the  well 

known  northern  constellation,  otherwise  called  "the  Great  Bear" 
("Dipper");  "his  sons"  (special  stars)  being  poetically  the  chil- 
dren of  that  animal.  The  question  as  put  to  Job  asks  if  he  controls 
these  moA'ements  of  the  great  constellations,  or  as  we  should  put  it, 
those  changes  of  the  earth  in  its  revolution  round  the  sun  Avhich 
they  serve  to  mark  and  indicate  ? 

33.  KnoAvest  thou  the  ordinances  of  heaven  ?  canst  thou 
set  the  dominion  thereof  in  the  earth  ? 

34.  Canst  thou  lift  up  thy  voice  to  the  clouds,  that  abund- 
ance of  waters  may  cover  thee  ? 

35.  Canst  thou  send  lightnings,  that  they  may  go,  and 
say  unto  thee.  Here  we  are? 

Dost  thou  even  iinderstand  the  ordinances  of  the  heavens — 
those  great  natural  laws  under  Avhich  the  heavenly  bodies  move  in 
their  orbits  and  fulfill  each  his  OAvn  mission  ?  Or  dost  thou  assign 
to  them  their  dominion  oA-er  the  earth,  giving  them  the  poAver  they 
wield  and  regulating  its  exercise? — So  also,  dost  thou  command 
the  clouds,  and  consequently  abundance  of  waters  come  doAvn  to 
cover  thee?     Or,  in  like  manner,  dost  thou  send  forth  the  light- 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB, — CHAP.  XXXVIII.  207 

ningf,  and  they  respond  to  thy  bidding  as  thy  ready  servants? — 
questions  as  to  which  we  scarcely  know  Avhether  most  to  admire 
their  exquisite  pertinence,  or  their  matchless  sublimity. 

36.  Who  hath  put  wisdom  in  the  inward  parts?  or  wlio  hath 
given  understanding  to  the  heart  ? 

This  question  opens  a  new  vein  of  thought — the  resources  of 
power  and  wisdom  manifested  in  Him  who  can  create  inielligent 
mind,  like  that  of  man — a  mind  capable  of  learning  and  appreci- 
ating the  glorious  attributes  of  his  Maker  and  Father.  Who  has 
wrought  this  Avonderful  achievement  ?  Has  Job  ever  done  any 
thing  of  this  sort?  If  not,  then  he  is  entirely  too  fast  in  presum- 
ing to  say  how  the  Infinite  Maker  of  man's  intelligent  mind  ought 
to  govern  his  moral  children  and  adjust  to  their  spiritual  nature 
and  need  the  complicated  influences  of  adversity  and  prosperity. 

37.  Who  can  number  the  clouds  in  wisdom  ?  or  who  can 
stay  the  bottles  of  heaven, 

38.  When  the  dust  groweth  into  hardness,  and  the  clods 
cleave  first  together? 

"  Numbering  the  clouds "  probably  includes  more  than  their 
count,  even  a  perfect  knowledge  of  their  laws  and  a  supreme  con- 
trol of  all  their  agencies. Is^ot  "stay  the  bottles  of  heaven"  in 

the  sense  of  holding  them  still;  but  rather — Who  can  incline 
tliem ;  turn  them  up  so  that  they  shall  discharge  their  waters  in 
showers  upon  the  earth.  The  time,  thought  of,  is  one  of  extreme 
drought,  when  the  soil  becomes  hard  and  the  clods  cohere  and 
can  not  be  pulverized.    Who  then  can  send  the  softening  showers  ? 

39.  Wilt  thou  hunt  the  prey  for  the  lion  ?  or  fill  the  appe- 
tite of  the  young  lions, 

40.  When  they  couch  in  their  dens,  and  abide  in  the  cov- 
ert to  lie  in  wait? 

41.  Who  provideth  for  the  raven  his  food  ?  when  his  young 
ones  cry  unto  God,  they  wander  for  lack  of  meat. 

At  this  point  the  field  from  which  illustrations  are  drawn 
changes  and  a  new  chapter  should  have  commenced.  The  strain 
of  discourse  passes  from  the  inanimate  creation  to  the  animate ; 
from  the  heavenly  bodies  and  atmospheric  agencies  to  beasts  of 
field  and  forest,  o-f  land  and  of  water;  to  treat  of  their  instincts, 
and  capabilities,  and  of  the  provision  which  their  great  Creator 
has  made  for  their  subsistence  and  well-being.  This  portion  of 
the  discourse  will  have  less  of  sublimity  and  grandeur  than  tlio 
preceding,  yet,  carefully  considered,  scarcely  less  rich  displays  of 
the  wisdom  and  beneficence  of  the  Creator. 

The  lion,  notwithstanding  his  wonderful  strength  and  agility, 
must  still  depend  on  the  all-peiwasive  providence  of  his  Maker  for 
his  daily  food.  •  Noticeably  the  case  of  the  lion  is  put  in  two 
aspects:  the  young,  hungry  and  to  be  supplied;  yet  waiting  idly 


208  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.   XXXIX. 

in  their  dens  :  the  old  lion,  responsible  for  the  hunting,  and  crouch- 
ing in  his  covert  to  lie  in  wait.  V.  39  names  the  old  lion  first; 
his  young  second:  while  v.  40  reverses  this  order,  and  shows  the 
young  waiting  in  their  homes;  the  old,  lurking  for  his  prey.  Who 
shaped  these  laws  and  provides  for  their  well-working  ? Beau- 
tifully the  young  of  the  raven  are  thought  of  as  lifting  up  their 
cry  to  God  for  the  food  which  their  nature  demands,  and  God 
hears  their  cry! — Does  Job  bear  any  part  in  this  universal  provi- 
dence of  God?     Could  he  do  it  if  the  responsibility  were   laid 

upon  him  ? Moreover,  let  the  question  be  considered  whether 

the  Lord  does  not  invite  Job  (and  ourselves  also)  to  this  infer- 
ence:— He  who  hears  the  cry  of  the  raven  will  hear  the  cry  of  his 
human  offspring:  He  who  is  good  to  the  lion  is  no  less  good  to 
suffering  man.  Subsequent  sacred  writers  seem  to  have  had  in 
mind  this  allusion  to  the  raven  ;  e.  g.,  the  Psalmist  (147  :  9):  "  He 
giveth  to  the  beast  his  food,  and  to  the  young  ravens  which  cry." 
Also  our  Lord  himself  (Luke  12:  24):  "Consider  the  ravens,  for 
they  neither  sow  nor  reap  ;  who  have  neither  store-house  nor  barn ; 
and  God  feedeth  them." 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

Speech  of  Jehovah  continued. 

This  chapter  brings  under  consideration  successively  the  rock- 
goat  (v.  1-4);  the  wild  ass  (v.  5-8);  the  unicorn  (v.  9-12);  the 
ostrich  (v.  13-18);  the  war-horse  (v.  19-25)  ;  the  hawk  (v.  26);  and 
the  eagle  (v.  27-30).  The  purpose  in  each  is  essentially  the 
same— to  set  forth  the  surpassing  wisdom  and  beneficence  of  the 
Great  Creator,  whose  works  in  the  field  of  animated  existence 
are  endlessly  varied,  but  every-where  rich  in  demonstrations  of 
his  measureless  resources  of  skill,  adaptation  and  beneficent 
providence. 

1.  Knowest  thou  the  time  when  the  wild  goats  of  the 
rock  bring  forth?  or  canst  thou  mark  when  the  hinds  do 
calve  ? 

2.  Canst  thou  number  the  months  that  they  fulfill?  or 
knowest  thou  the  time  when  they  bring  forth  ? 

3.  They  bow  themselves,  they  bring  forth  their  young 
ones,  they  cast  out  their  sorrows. 

4.  Their  young  ones  are  in  good  liking,  they  grow  up 
with  corn ;  they  go  forth,  and  return  not  unto  them. 

Instead  of  ''canst  mark;"  "canst  number,"  dost  should  be  the 
word,  as  precisely  representing  the  original.     In  v.  2  the  idea  is 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAr.    XXXIX.  209 

bj  no  means — canst  thou  count  their  months — which  would  he  no 
difficult  matter,  but  dost  thou  determine,  fix,  this  period — a  thin^ 
done  by  no  other  than  their  Creator.  "  Cast  out  their  sorrows' 
in  the  sense  of  casting  away,  dismissing,  their  pains.  Their 
young  (v,  4)  mature,  develop  rapidly  to  the  point  of  puberty. — 
They  grow  up,  not  "  with  corn,"  but  in  the  open  fields — the  wide, 
desert  regions.  This  "  goat  of  the  rock"  [Heb.]  is  the  wild  one — 
in  habits  and  life,  entirely  unlike  his  tame  brother.  Who  made 
him  to  differ  so  widely?  Who  supplies  his  physical  wants  and 
bears  him  with  such  facility  through  the  trying  exegencies  of  all 
animated  beings? 

5.  Who  hath  sent  out.  the  Avild  ass   free?    or  who  hath 
loosed  the  bands  of  the  wild  ass? 

6.  Whose  house  I  have   made  the  wilderness,  and    the 
barren  land  his  dwellings. 

7.  He  scorneth  the  multitude  of  the  city,  neither  regardeth 
he  the  crying  of  the  driver. 

8.  The   range   of  the  mountains  is  his  pasture,  and  he 
searcheth  after  every  green  thing. 

This  description  of  the  wild  ass  has  its  eye    continually  upon 
his   tame    brother,   to   show   the  points    of    great  unlikeness    in 

his  spirit  and  habits  of  life. Who  sent  forth  this  wild  ass/ree 

as  a  manumitted  slave — the  word  here  being  the  one  employed 
for  the  bondman  set  at  liberty.  Who  loosed  his  bands  of 
slavery — to  whom  I  have  given  the  broad  wilderness  for  his 
home?  "He  scorneth" — not  properly  "  the  w?(?f/i'H(7e,"  but  the 
tumult — the  hum  and  roar  of  the  city.  He  does  not  like  those 
sounds  which  come  up  fi'om  the  busy  haunts  of  men,  nor  will  he 
hear  [patiently]  the  shouts  of  the  driver — such  as  the  domesti- 
cated ass  is  doomed  to  hear  interminably. The  range  of  the 

mountains  is  his  pasture-ground — the  word  for  range  implying  a 
country  to  be  traversed  and  explored  at  will,  where  he  may  search 
out  every  green  thing  for  his  subsistence.  Who  gave  this  animal 
his  fixed  instincts  of  fi-eedom,  and  provided  for  him  a  home  so 
peculiar,  a  pasture-ground  so  ample,  the  supply  for  every  want  so 
abundant;  and  made  him  love  this  sort  of  life  so  well  and  persist 
in  it  so  tenaciously  ?     Had  Job  any  hand  in  all  this  ? 

9.  Will  the  unicorn  be  Avilling  to  serve  thee,  or  abide  by 
thy  crib  ? 

10.  Canst  thou  bind  the  unicorn  with  his  band  in  the  fur 
row?  or  will  he  harrow  the  valleys  after  thee? 

11.  Wilt  thou  trust  him,  because  his  strength  is  great?  or 
wilt  thou  leave  thy  labor  to  him? 

12.  Wilt  thou  believe  him,  that  he  will  bring  home  thy 
seed,  and  gather  it  into  thy  barn  ? 

Both  naturalists  and  Bible  critics  have  sought  long  and  dili- 
10 


210  THE   BOOK  OF   JOB. — CHAP,    XXXIX. 

gently  to  identify  this  so-called  "  unicorn "  [Ileb.  reeml.  The 
descriptive  points  given  here  suffice  to  show  fully  his  strong 
points  of  resemblance  in  structure  and  strength  to  the  do- 
mestic ox.  He  might  plovr  or  harrow  or  bear  your  burdens 
of  grain — if  only  he  would ;  but  like  the  two  animals  before 
described,  lie  is  intractable.  You  can  not  bow  his  neck  to  your 
yoke,  nor  make  him  feel  at  home  at  your  crib.  Wild  ox  is  there- 
fore  his  descriptive  name. The  supposition  that  he  had  but 

one  horn  ["  unicorn  "]  is  for  many  reasons  untenable.  See  the 
allusions   to   his    liorns   [plural]   in  Ps.  22:  21  and  92:   10  and 

Deut.  33  :   17. The  earlier  critics  labored  to  make  him  out  the 

rhinoceros  ;  but  all  later  critics  reject  their  speculations.  The 
effort  to  class  him  ■with  the  oryx  has  proved  equally  abortive. 
If  his  race  is  still  extant,  he  must  be  a  species  of  the  buffalo, 
now  domesticated  in  Southern  Europe,  Egypt  and  India.* 

13.  Gavest  thou  the  goodly  "wiugs   unto  tlie  peacocks?  oi* 
wings  and  feathers  unto  the  ostrich  ? 

14.  Which  leaveth  her  eggs  in  the  earth,  and  warmeth 
them  in  the  dust, 

15.  And  forgetteth  that  the  foot  may  crush  them,  or  that 
the  wild  beast  may  break  them. 

16.  She  is  hardened  against  her  young  ones,  as   though 
tliey  were  not  hers:  her  labor  is  in  vain  without  fear; 

17.  Because  God  hath  deprived  her  of  wisdom,  neither 
hath  he  imparted  to  her  understanding. 

18.  What  time  she  lifteth  up  herself  on  high  she  scorneth 
the  horse  and  his  rider. 

•  In  this  passage  the  Hebrew  gives  no  authority  whatever  for 
the  word  "  peacock."  The  bird  described  is  the  ostrich  and  no 
other.  Therefore,  read  vs.  13  and  14  thus: — "The  wing  of  the 
ostrich  waves  exultingly;  but  are  her  wings  and  pinions  pious" 
(like  the  affectionate  stork  suggested  by  the  word  for  "  pious")? 
[Nay,]  "/"or  she  commits  her  eggs  to  the  earth,  and  on  the  dust 
[or  sand]  leaves  them  to  be  warmed  and  forgets  that  some  foot 
may  crush  them.  By  her  .instincts  she  is  hard  of  heart  toward 
her  young;  God  has  withheld  from  her  the  maternal  love  and 
care  impressed  into  the  nature  of  most  animals.  Her  unsur- 
passed speed  in  flight  is  given  truthfully  as  another  of  her 
marked  characteristics.  Combining  nimble  feet  with  powerful 
wings,  she  easily  distances  and  proudly  scorns  the  horse  and  his 
rider.  Her  hunters  find  that  it  is  only  by  driving  the  ostrich 
against  the  wind  that  they  can  break   her  down  and  bring  her 

within  their  reach. The  reader  will  notice  here  also  that  the 

striking  peculiarities  of  this  wonderful  bird  are  attributed  to  her 
Maker,  who  is  "  wonderful  in  counsel." 

*  Robinson  in  Calmet  gives  an  elaborate  review  of  this  subject. 


THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XXXIX.  211 

19.  Hast  thou  given  the  horse  strength  ?  hast  thou  clothed 
his  neck  Avith  thunder  ? 

20.  Canst  thou  make  him  afraid  as  a  grasshopper  ?  the 
glory  of  his  nostrils  is  terrible. 

21.  He  pawethiu  the  valley,  and  rejoiceth  in  Ms  strength: 
he  goeth  on  to  meet  the  armed  men. 

22.  He  mocketh  at  fear,  and  is  not  affrighted ;  neither 
turneth  he  back  from  the  sword. 

23.  The  quiver  rattleth  against  him,  the  glittering  spear 
and  the  shield. 

24.  He  swalloweth  the  ground  with  fierceness  and  rage: 
neither  believeth  he  that  it  is  the  sound  of  the  trumpet. 

25.  He  saith  among  the  trumpets,  Ha,  ha !  and  he 
sraelleth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of  the  captains,  and 
the  shouting. 

This  is  not  the  average  horse  of  civilized  life,  put  to  burdens 
and  to  draft:   but  the  genuine  war-horse — nowhere  else  developed 

so  perfectly  as  on  the  Arabian  desei-ts. In  v.  19 — not  "clothed 

his  neck  with  thvuder.  but  with  terror — in  allusion  to  his  waving, 
streaming,  tremulous  mane — one  of  the  significant  marks  of  his 

fearless  spirit  and  rampant   enthusiasm  for  battle. In  v.  20, 

"  the  glory  of  his  nostrils  "  is  not  for  the  eye  (as  the  English 
reader  might  suppose),  but  for  the   ear — the  snorting,  exploding 

his  breath  through   the  nostrils. In  v.  24,  the   phrase — more 

oriental  and  Arabic  than  occidental — "  he  swallows  the  ground  in 
his  fierceness  and  rage '' — sets  forth  the  fury  of  his  charge  in  his 
eagerness  for  the  shock  of  battle.  So  excited  is  he  that  he  can 
scarcely  believe  his  own  ears  when  the  blast  of  the  war-trumpet  stirs 
his  blood  to  frenzy.  Who  gave  him  this  passion  for  the  scenes 
and  apparently  for  the  glory  of  battle  ? 

26.  Doth  the  hawk  fly  by  thy  wisdom,  and  stretch  her 
wings  toM'ard  the  south  ? 

27.  Doth  the  eagle  mount  up  at  thy  command,  and  make 
her  nest  on  high? 

28.  She  dwelleth  and  abideth  on  the  rock,  upon  the  crag 
of  the  rock,  and  the  strong  place. 

29.  From  thence  she  seeketh  the  prey,  and  her  eyes  behold 
afar  off. 

30.  Her  young  ones  also  suck  up  blood :  and  where  the 
slain  are,  there  is  she. 

From  land  animals  we  pass  now  to  birds.  First,  the  hawk,  one 
of  the  birds  of  passage.  As  the  cold  of  winter  approaches,  he 
mounts  high  aloft  and  spreads  his  wings  for  the  warmer  regions 
of  the  south.  Does  this  sagacity  come  of  thy  wisdom  ?  Art  thou 
equal  to  the  creation  of  such  instincts? And  of  the  eagle: 


212  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XL. 

Dost  thou  nerve  and  inspii-e  her  for  her  lofty  soarins;,  and  make 
her  at  home  on  the  highest  peaks  and  crags  of  the  mountain- 
top  ?  Hast  thou  given  her  that  marvclously  long  range  of  vision 
by  which  she  descries  her  food  from  afar  ?  Is  it  of  thee  that  she 
makes  her  feast  upon  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  slain? 

Throughout  these  two  magnificent  chapters,  we  know  not  which 
to  admire  most,  the  sublime  grandeur  of  the  thought,  or  the  sur- 
passing beauty  of  the  diction.  If  we  ascribe  the  style  to  the 
genius  and  imagination  of  the  author,  we  shall  readily  concede  to 
him  the  very  first  rank  in  these  grand  qualities.  If  we  assume 
that  in  fact  Jehovah  did  appear  in  the  whirlwind  and  give  audible 
utterance  to  these  thoughts  in  substantially  these  words,  we  can 
not  say  less  than  that  the  argument  is  worthy  of  a  God,  and  the 
reported  words  do  highest  honor  to  the  sublime  source  whence 
they  came. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

Jehovah's  speech  resumed  and  conttmied. 

The  first  striking  feature  of  this  chapter  is  that  it  appears  like 
a  new  speech,  or  at  least,  a  second  distinct  part  of  the  same ;  for 
it  has  its  appropriate  introduction,  corresponding  to  that  in  chap. 
38.  Was  this  because  Job  had  become  inattentive — his  mind  ap- 
parently flagging  and  therefore  needing  a  new  impulse  to  hold  its 
thought?  Or  was  it  that  some  new  points  were  to  be  introduced 
or  old  ones  put  in  new  aspects  for  the  stronger  impression  ?  The 
latter  view  has  some  support  in  the  points  made  at  the  opening  of 
this  new  speech. 

The  Lord  begins  by  rebuking  the  boldness,  verging  upon  impi- 
ous hardihood,  of  the  mortal  who  presumes  to  contend  with  the 
Almighty,  or  censure  his  conduct  (v.  I,  2);  to  which  Job  responds, 
with  his  first  words  of  reply  (v.  3-5),  after  which  the  Lord  pro- 
ceeds, repeating  some  of  the  introductory  words  to  the  first  part 
of  his  speech  (v.  6,  7)  ;  then  in  v.  8,  brings  out  the  main  and  really 
great  charge  against  Job — that  of  imputing  injustice  to  his  Maker 
in  his  bold  self-vindication — which  rebuke  the  Lord  enforces  by 
appealing  to  Job  to  show  his  power  and  see  if  he  has  any  worth 
naming  that  can  at  all  compare  with  that  of  his  Infinite  Maker 
(v.  9-14.)  Then  resuming  the  strain  of  chap.  39,  the  Lord  calls 
his  attention  to  another  remarkable  specimen  of  the  animal  crea- 
tion (v.  15-24). 

1.  Moreover,  the  Lord  answered  Job,  and  said, 

2.  Shall  lie  that  contendeth  with  the  Almighty  instruct  hi7n  f 
he  that  reproveth  God,  let  him  answer  it. 


THE   BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XL.  213 

"  The  Lord  ansicerecl  Job" — but  tbc  oriental  sense  of  the  word 
"answer"  (prevalent  in  both  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New) 
is  broader  than  merely  a  reply  to  a  definite  question,  it  being 
used  in  the  sense  of  addressing  one  and  speaking   to   any  well 

known  facts  in  his  conduct,  words  or  relations. In  v.  2,  the 

first  clause  (emphatic  and  vital  in  the  discourse)  may  be  para- 
phrased thus  : — Shall  a  mere  mortal,  assuming  to  be  a  reprover, 
go  into  earnest  controversy  with  the  Almighty?  The  word  which 
our  English  version  translates  as  a  verb — "  instruct" — is  now  con- 
ceded to  be  a  noun,  in  the  sense — a  reprover.  The  one  verb  of 
the  sentence  (  "  contendeth  ")  is  a  part  of  that  very  emphatic  He- 
brew idiom,  made  by  combining  the  infinitive  Avith  the  finite  verb, 
thus; — contending,  shall  he  contend — i.  e.,  shall  he  contend  vig- 
orously, boldly ;  shall  he  really  undertake  a  set  controversy  with 

his  Maker? "He  that  censures  God,  let  him  answer  for   it"; 

it  is  a  fearfully  grave  matter,  and  whoever  shall  undertake  it 
should  consider  the  solemn  account  he  must  render  for  such  ii-rev- 
erence  and  daring  impiety. 

3.  Then  Job  answered  the  Lord,  and  said, 

4.  Behold,  I  am  vile;  what  shall  I  answer  thee?  I  will 
lay  mine  hand  upon  my  mouth. 

5.  Once  have  I  spoken  ;  but  I  Avill  not  answer  :  yea,  twice  ; 
but  I  will  proceed  no  further. 

Job  is  not  only  appalled  but  humbled.  Deeply  conscious  that 
he  has  said  entirely  too  much  already,  he  shuts  his  lips  and  de- 
clares he  will  say  no  more  ! 

6.  Then  answered  the  Lord  unto  Job  out  of  the  whirl- 
wind, and  said, 

7.  Gird  up  thy  loins  now  like  a  man  :  I  will  demand  of 
thee,  and  declare  thou  unto  me. 

8.  Wilt  thou  also  disannul  my  judgment?  wilt  thou  con- 
demn me,  that  thou  mayest  be  righteous  ? 

Vs.  6,  7  repeat  verbatim  a  part  of  the  introductory  words  of  the 
first  speech  (38  :  1-3).  The  grave  charge  brought  against  Job — 
the  very  head  and  front  of  his  great  offense  against  God — is  dis- 
tinctly put  in  V.  8  ; — Wilt  thou  annul  my  infinite  right  to  rule  ? 
For  to  deny  the  justice  of  my  judgments  is  equivalent  to  denying 
my  right  to  rule  at  all.  If  it  were  supposable  that  the  Infinite 
God  should  perpetrate  injustice,  he  would  by  that  injustice  forfeit 
his  right  to  rule  at  all,  and  would  virtually  vacate  his  throne. 
Hence  the  morial  who  charges  against  God  any  injustice  virtually 
denies  his  right  to  reign.  So  much  seems  to  be  implied  in  the 
first  clause  ; — "  Wilt  thou  even  annul  my  right  " — i.  e.,  as  God  ? 

"Wilt  thou  condemn  me"  (literally,  hold  me  to  be  wicked) 

that  thou  mayest  be  righteous," — i.  e.,  for  the  sake  of  self-justifi- 
cation ? 


214  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XL. 

9.  Hast  thou  an  arm  like  God  ?  or  canst  thou  thunder 
with  a  voice  like  him  ? 

10.  Deck  thyself  now  iv'dli  majesty  and  excellency ;  and 
array  thyself  with  glory  and  beauty. 

11.  Cast  abroad  the  rage  of  thy  wrath  :  and  behold  every 
one  that  is  proud,  and  abase  him. 

12.  Look  on  every  one  that  is  proud,  ami  bring  him  low  ; 
and  tread  down  the  wicked  in  their  place. 

13.  Hide  them  in  the  dust  together  ;  and  bind  their  faces 
in  secret. 

14.  Then  will  I  also  confess  unto  thee  that  thine  own  right 
hand  can  save  thee. 

It  should  be  carefully  noticed  that  on  this  most  vital  point  of 
all  in  this  great  debate,  the  Lord  seems  to  make  his  final  appeal, 
not  directly  to  the  intrinsic  justice  of  his  administration,  nor  to 
facts  which  would  certify  to  that  justice,  or  would  serve  to  illus- 
trate it;  but  simply  to  his  infinite  power  and  majesty. Hast 

thou  an  arm  like  God's?  or  a  voice  of  thunder  like  his  ?  Put  on 
thine  utmost  majesty  ;  array  thyself  in  all  thy  beauty  and  glory; 
send  forth  the  floods  of  thy  wrath  (v.  11);  look  on  every  most 

proud  one  and  abase  him  I To  "  tread  down  the  wicked  m  their 

place  "  is  to  break  them  down  where  they  are,  underneath  them- 
selves, giving  them  not  a  moment  to  escape. "To  bind  their 

faces  in  secret,"  should  rather  be  in  dccrkness  : — consign  them  to 
darkness,  deep,  remediless,  eternal ! In  v.  14,  the  verb  "  con- 
fess "  has  usually  the  sense  of  p''«''se — meaning  here:  Then  will 
I  give  thee  the  credit  and  the  honor  of  being  able  to  save  thyself 
by  the  might  of  thine  own  right  arm. The  reasons  for  this  ap- 
peal to  the  power  and  majesty  of  God,  in  a  case  which  was  essen- 
tially an  impeachment  of  his  justice,  will  come  up  for  more  full 
consideration  hereafter.  The  fact  challenges  special  investiga- 
tion and  should  receive  it. 

15.  Behold  now  behemoth,  which  I  made  with  thee;  he 
eateth  grass  as  an  ox. 

16.  Lo  now,  his  strength  is  in  his  loins,  and  his  force  is 
in  the  navel  of  his  belly. 

17.  He  moveth  his  tail  like  a  cedar  :  the  sinews  of  his 
stones  are  wrapped  together. 

18.  His  bones  are  as  strong  pieces  of  brass ;  his  bones  are 
like  bars  of  iron. 

The  word  "  behemoth"  is  transferred  from  the  Hebrew — not 
translated.  By  general  consent  of  all  modern  critics,  he  is  the 
animal  known  best  by  his  Greek  name,  "hippopotamus,"  or  river- 
horse;  yet  as  his  characteristics  are  rather  those  of  the  ox  than 

the  horse,  he  might  better  be  called  the  river-ox. His  proper 

home  is  the  Nile  of  Egypt.     He  is  amphibious — living  both  in 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP,   XL.  215 

and  out  of  water.  The  animals  before  referred  to  (38 :  39-41  and 
39)  were  either  land  animals  or  birds.  This  one  and  the  "  levi- 
athan "  (the  crocodile)  of  chap.  41,  are  of  both  land  and  water. — 
This  river-ox  has  many  qualities  in  common  with  the  land-ox, 
living  on  vegetables  (not  on  flesh) — a  foot  the  more  noticeable 
because  his  great  strength  would  enable  him  to  supply  himself 

readily  with  animal  food  if  he  had  been  constituted  for  it. His 

force  is — not  "  in  the  navel" — but  in  the  sinews  of  his  belly.  He 
bends  his  tail  like  a  cedar — as  a  cedar  would  be  bent,  only  under 
great  force.  The  sinews  of  his  thighs  are  firmly  wrapped  together, 
interlaced  so  as  to  give  the  utmost  strength.  The  strength  of  his 
bones  is  represented  by  the  strongest  known  material  (brass),  in 
its  strongest  form — that  of  holloAv  pipes  or  tubes — the  sense  of 
the  Heb.. word  for  "pieces"  (v.  18). 

19.  He  is  the  chief  of  the  ways  of  God  :  he  that  made  him 
can  make  his  .sword  to  approach  unto  him. 

20.  Surely  the  mountains  bring  him  forth  food,  wdaere  all 
the  beasts  of  the  field  play. 

21.  He  lieth  under  the  shady  trees,  in  the  covert  of  the 
reed,  and  fens. 

22.  The  shady  trees  cover  him  tcith  their  shadow ;  the 
willows  of  the  brook  compass  him  about. 

"The  chief  of  the  ways  of  God"  I  take  to  mean — the  highest 
work  of  skill  in  constructing  an  animal  of  immense  strength,  yet 
of  only  moderate  size.  The  last  clause  of  v.  19  should  be  read: — 
"His  Maker  gave  him  his  sword" — referring  to  his  huge  tusk  or 
corner  tooth  of  which  he  has  two.  "  It  is  (-says  Conant)  more 
than  two  feet  long  and  hard  as  flint,  striking  fire  with  steel." — The 
word  for  "shady  trees"  (v.  22)  signifies  rather  the  loivs,  whose 
leaves  on  the  river's  surface  are  his  covert,  underneath  which  and 
among  the  reeds  and  ferns  on  the  margin  of  the  river,  he  takes 
his  rest.  The  English  version  might  be  understood  to  imply 
that  he  sleeps  and  rests  on  the  land.  His  natural  bed  is  in  the 
water's  edge. 

23.  Behold,  he  drinketh  up  a  river,  ami  hasteth  not:  he 
trusteth  that  he  can  draw  up  Jordan  into  his  mouth. 

24.  He  taketh  it  with  his  eyes:  his  nose  pierceth  through 
snares. 

Quite  unlike  the  English  version,  the  Hebrew  (v.  23)  means  : — 
The  river  rushes  on  proudly:  he  is  not  startled:  he  is  fearless 
[trustful  in  himself]  though  Jordan  burst  forth  at  his  mouth. — 
"Why  should  he  be  afraid  of  water?  It  is  one  of  his  native  ele- 
ments. The  text  does  not  describe  him  as  a  great  drinker  of 
water,  but  as  not  fearing  the  rush  of  water  about  or  upon  him- 
self. The  translation  of  v.  24  is  also  very  imperfect.  It  should 
read : — He  [the  hunter]  takes  him  (behemoth)  before  his  own 
eyes;  he  pierces  through  the  nose  with  snares  [hooks].     This  is 


216  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XLI. 

the  method  of  taking  the  river-ox  as  given  in  history.  The  animal 
is  by  nature  shiggish  and  not  timid.  When  he  has  not  yet  learned 
to  fear  man,  and  has  not  been  wounded  or  in  any  way  exasper- 
ated, his  capture  is  easy,  in  the  mode  here  indicated. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

The  speech  of  Jehovah  continued. 

This  chapter  describes  the  crocodile,  well  known  in  the  Nile; 
portrayed  here  in  boldest  imagery  as  one  of  the  masterly  works 
of  God. 

1.  Canst  thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  a  hook?  or  his 
tongue  with  a  cord  ivhich  thou  lettest  down  ? 

2.  Canst  thou  put  a  hook  into  his  nose?  or  bore  his  jaw 
through  with  a  thorn  ? 

The  name  "leviathan"  is  transferred  from  the  Hebrew — not 
translated.  It  is  applied  in  the  Scriptures  to  other  animals  as 
well;  e.  g.,  to  a  large  serpent  (Job  3:  8),  and  to  a  sea-monster 
(Ps.  104 :  26).  Yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  animal  is  the 
crocodile  of  Egypt. — The  first  point  made  is  in  tacit  contrast  with 
behemoth,  who  can  be  caught  with  a  hook;  but  wilt  thou  draw  out 
leviathan  in  that  way  ?  Or  (2d  clause)  wilt  thou  j^ress  down  his 
tongue  with  a  cord — i.  e.,  passed  round  his  lower  jaw  and  over 
histongue  ?  Wilt  thou  put  a  rush-cord  (a  cord  made  of  the  rush) 
into  his  nose,  or  bore  his  jaw  with  a  hook?* 

3.  Will  he  make  many  supplications  unto  thee  ?  will  he 
speak  soft  ivords  unto  thee  ? 

4.  Will  he  make  a  covenant  with  thee?  wilt  thou  take 
him  for  a  servant  for  ever  ? 

5.  Wilt  thou  play  with  him  as  ivith  a  bird  ?  or  wilt  thou 
bind  him  for  thy  maidens? 

Canst  thou  domesticate  and  tame  leviathan  so  as  to  use  him  in 
thy  labors,  or  make  him  a  pet  for  thy  maidens  ? 

6.  Shall  the  companions  make  a  banquet  of  him?  shall 
they  part  him  among  the  merchants  ? 

7.  Cau.st  thou  fill  his  skin  with  barbed  irons  ?  or  his  head 
with  fish  spears? 

8.  Lay  thine  hand  upon  him,  remember  the  battle,  do 
no  more. 

*  There  are  several  Heb.  words  in  this  chapter  whose  meaning  is 
better  understood  now  than  when  our  received  version  was  made. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAr.   XLI.  217 

"Companions"  here  arc  partners,  supposed  to  be  associated  in 
the  hunting,  capture  and  sale  of  the  crocodile. — Instead  of  "  make 
a  banquet,''  we  may  read — Dig  a  j^H  as  a  method  of  takinrr  the 
wildest  animals — this  being  the  only  well  established  sense  of  the 
Hebrew.  V.  7  suggests  the  methods  of  capture  practiced,  e.  (j.,  in 
taking  the  whale.  (V.  8)  Lay  thine  hand  upon  him;  try  it  for 
once  : — once  will  suffice  !  Think  no  more  of  battle — ivllh  him  ! 
Literally — Add  not  to  think  of  battle  ! 

9.  Behold,  the  hope  of  him  is  in  vain :  sluill  not  one  be 
cast  clown  even  at  the  sight  of  him  ? 

10.  None  is  'so  fierce  that  dare  stir  him  up :  Avho  then  is 
able  to  stand  before  me? 

11.  Who  hath  prevented  me,  that  I  should  repay  himf 
ichatsoever  is  under  the  whole  heaven  is  mine. 

12.  I  will  not  conceal  his  parts,  nor  his  power,  nor  his 
comely  proportion. 

Behold,  the  hope  (i.  e.,  of  taking  him  by  any  such  means)  will 

disappoint — will  prove  to  be  delusive. If  thou  canst  not  face 

him  in  conflict,  and  dare  not  stir  him  up,  who  shall  take  his  stand 
against  «ie  f  Who  shall  dare  provoke  my  wrath  or  think  to  meas- 
ure his  right  arm  against  mine? — (In  v.  11)  Who  hath  first  given 
aught  to  me  that  I  should  be  bound  to  repay  him  ?  This  English 
word  "prevent"  has  long  been  obsolete  in  the  sense  given  it  by 
our  translators,  and  hence  entirely  fails  now  to  express  what  they 
meant  by  it.  The  sense  here  is — Who  has  been  beforehand  with 
me,  first  giving  to  me,  so  that  I  am  bound  to  give  back  to  him  ? 
Under  the  whole  heaven,  it  is  mine  ;  all,  all  is  mine  ! Resum- 
ing the  description,  v.  12  says — I  will  not  pass  in  silence  his  limbs, 
nor  (literally)  the  word  of  his  strength — his  renowned,  much  talked 
of  strength,  etc. 

13.  Who  can  discover  the  face  of  his  garment?  or  who  can 
come  to  him  with  his  double  bridle  ? 

14.  Who  can  open  the  doors  of  his  face  ?  his  teeth  are  ter- 
rible round  about. 

"  Discover,"  as  usual  in  oiu*  version,  in  the  sense  nncover.  Tlie 
ultimate  meaning  here  is — Who  has  removed  his  armor  of  scales 

so  as  to  examine  his  skin  underneath  ? In  the  second  clause 

of  V.  13,  the  word  for  "bridle"  is  supposed  to  mean  his  jaws — 
the  question  put  being  this  :  Who  will  enter  within  his  double 
jaws,  and  trust  himself  beneath  those  terrible  teeth  ? 

15.  His  scales  are  his  pride,  shut  up  together  as  with  a  close 
seal. 

16.  One  is  so  near  to  another,  that  no  air  can  come 
between  them. 

17.  They  are  joined  one  to  another,  they  stick  together 
that  they  can  not  be  sundered. 


218  THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — CHAP.   XLI. 

The  Hebrew  for  "  scales  "  is  shields,  our  translation  giving  the 
ultimate  sense,  yet  missing  the  figure  under  which  it  is  clothed. 
His  mighty  shields  are  his  pride — laid  so  close  together;  making 
an  armature  so  impenetrable. 

18.  By  his  neesings  a  light  doth  shine,  and  his  eyes  are 
like  the  eyelids  of  the  morning. 

19.  Out  of  his  mouth  go  burning  lamj)s,  and  sparks  of  fire 
leap  out. 

20.  Out  of  his  no.strils  goeth  smoke,  as  out  of  a  seething  pot 
or  caldron. 

21.  His  breath  kindleth  coals,  and  a  flame  goeth  out  of  his 
mouth. 

The  obsolete  word  "  neese "  is  modernized  in  sneeze.  This 
crocodile  has  a  habit  of  his  own.  Basking  in  the  sunshine,  he 
inflates  himself,  and  then  forces  the  heated  air  and  steam  through 
his  nostrils  as  from  a  bellows.  Glistening  in  the  sun,  this  has 
somewhat  the  appearance  of  smoke  and  flame.  To  this  appear- 
ance the  passage  alludes. 

22.  In  his  neck  remaineth  strength,  and  sorrow  is  turned 
into  joy  before  him. 

23.  The  flakes  of  his  flesh  are  joined  together :  they  are 
firm  in  themselves ;  they  can  not  be  moved. 

In  his  neck,  strength  lodges  [finds  a  permanent  home] ;  and 
terror  dances  before  him  (last  clause  of  v.  22) — meaning — the 
terrified  quake  in  his  presence. 

24.  His  heart  is  as  firm  as  a  stone  ;  yea,  as  hard  as  a  piece 
of  the  nether  millstone. 

25.  When  he  raiseth  up  himself,  the  mighty  are  afraid :  by 
reason  of  breakings  they  purify  themselves. 

26.  The  sword  of  him  that  layeth  at  him  can  not  hold : 
the  spear,  the  dart,  nor  the  habergeon. 

27.  He  esteemeth  iron  as  straw,  and  brass  as  rotten  wood. 

His  heart  is  said  to  be  firm  and  hard  as  knowing  no  fear. 

The  unintelligible  clause — "  By  reason  of  breakings,  they  purify 
themselves  "  is  made  by  Gesenius — "  By  reason  of  fear  men  miss 
their  way  in  precipitate  flight."  Fuerst,  in  nearly  the  same 
sense  :  "  They  disappear,  from  terror,  i.  e.,  they  can  not  hold  out." 
The  verb  should  naturally  mean,  to  miss  one's  icai/ — here  through 

consternation  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy. V.  26  reads  literally 

thus :  One  assailing  him  with  the  sword,  it  [the  sword]  shall  not 
stand — i.  e.,  it  will  recoil  and  fail  him.  So  the  spear,  the  dart, 
and  the  coat  of  mail.  None  of  the  ordinary  weapons  of  war  had 
strength  enough  for  such  a  foe. 

28.  The  arrow  can  not  make  him  flee :  sling  stones  are 
turned  with  him  into  stubble. 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. — ClIAr.    XLII.  219 

29.  Darts  are  counted  as  stubble :  he  lauglieth  at  the 
shaking  of  a  spear. 

30.  Sharp  stones  are  under  him :  he  sjireadeth  sharp 
pointed  things  upon  the  mire. 

He  hurls  back  his  disdain  in  return  for  the  war-missiles  tossed 

so  harmlessly  at  him. In  v.  30,  we  are  to  tind — not    "  sharp 

stones,"  but  sharp  points  of  the  hard  scales  under  his  belly,  which 
leave  their  traces  on  his  path  as  the  oriental  threshing  sledge 
would  if  drawn  through  mire. 

31.  He  maketh  the  deep  to  boil  like  a  pot :  he  maketh  the 
sea  like  a  pot  of  ointment. 

32.  He  maketh  a  path  to  shine  after  him  ;  one  would  think 
the  deep  to  he  hoary. 

Moving  along  the  deep  sea,  he  tosses  it  into  foam  (as  the  modern 
wheel-steamer,)  but  compared  here  to  the  boiling  of  a  pot,  or  the 
seething  of  ointment.  He  leaves  a  glistening  path  behind  him  ; 
you  might  think  the  deep  hoary  Avith  age. 

33.  Upon  earth  there  is  not  his  like,  who  is  made  without 
fear. 

34.  He  beholdeth  all  high  ihings :  he  is  a  king  over  all  the 
children  of  pride. 

Of  all  living  creatures  on  the  earth,  he  is  most  fearless,  and  is 
so  by  the  nature  given  him  by  his  Maker.  Wilt  thou  not  infer 
that  nnich  more  must  his  g'lorious  Maker  be  above  all  fear  ?  Who 
will  stand  up  against  him  when  he  shall  arise  in  his  majesty  and 
might?  If  this  leviathan  looks  down  with  calmness  and  disdain 
on  all  things  high — king  over  all  the  sons  of  pride,  how  much 
more  must  this  be  true  of  his  Infinite  Maker ! Such  are  obvi- 
ously the  inferences  for  the  sake  of  which  this  fearless  invulner- 
able leviathan  was  set  before  the  mind's  eye  of  Job. 


CHAPTER    XLII. 

Reply  of  Job,  and  conclusion  of  his  history. 

Here  is  the  sequel  to  the  whole  book.  Job  becomes  deeply 
penitent:  the  uttered  words  and  the  present  majesty  of  Jehovah 
bring  him  to  a  better  mind.  He  humbles  himself  low  before  the 
infinitely  holy  and  just  One  and  is  forgiven  of  his  sin  and  received 
again  into  favor  (1-6).  To  Eliphaz  and  his  associates  the  Lord 
expresses  his  displeasure  and  his  dissatisfaction  with  their 
speeches,  and  requires  them  to  take  animal  sacrifices;  go  to  Job: 


220  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.    XLJI. 

offer  their  sacrifices  in  tlieir  own  behalf  and  ask  his  prayers  for 
themselves  (v.  7-9) ;  thereupon  the  Lord  turned  Job's  captive 
moans  into  songs  of  deliverance;  doubled  his  blessings  in  the 
line  of  personal  property  (v.  10,  12);  his  old  fx-iends  return  to 
him  with  greetings  and  gifts  (v.  11) ;  a  new  family  grows  up  about 
him  (v.  13-15) ;  his  life  continues  yet  one  hundred  and  forty  years, 
blessed  by  a  numerous  offspring  and  crowned  with  a  ripe  old  age, 
and  at  last,  a  peaceful  death. 

1.  Then  Job  answered  the  Lord,  and  said, 

2.  I  know  that  thou  canst  do  every  thing,  and  that  no  thought 
can  be  withholden  from  thee. 

I  know  that  thou  art  able ;  almighty  as  to  all  [things.]  Very 
appropriately  Job  uses  the  Hebrew  tense  which  indicates  both 
present  and  future  time.     Thou  art  and  forever  ivilt  be,  able  to 

do  all  things. In  v.  2  (2d  clause),  we  must  choose  between  two 

constructions  :  (a)  No  human  thought  can  be  concealed  from  thee  : 
— (b)  No  purpose  of  thine  can  be  restrained  as  to  thee — in  the 
sense  that  thou  shalt  be  restrained  or  hindered  from  accomplish- 
in  <>•  it.  The  latter  should  be  preferred  as  being  supported  by  the 
parallelism.    Thou  canst  do  all  things  ;  nothing  can  be  impossible — 

nothing  can  be   even   difficult   to  thee. The  word   translated 

"thought"  were  more  precisely  rendered  purpose,  plan,  design — 
sometimes  used  in  a  bad  sense,  yet  often,  as  here,  in  a  good  sense. 
It  is  not  the  word  which  a  Hebrew  writer  would  choose  for  the 

simple  idea  of  a  thought  as  a  mental  conception. Job  is  deeply 

impressed  with  the  infinite  power  of  God  and  his  resources  for 
accomplishing  whatever  he  might  design. 

3.  "Who  is  he  that  hideth  counsel  without  knowledge? 
therefore  have  I  uttered  that  I  understood  not ;  things  too 
wonderful  for  me,  which  I  knew  not. 

This  first  clause  is  substantially  repeated  from  the  first  address 
of  the  Lord  (38  :  2) — as  if  Job  would  say — Thou  hast  very  appro- 
priately accosted  me  in  the  words — "  Who  is  this  that  darkens 
counsel,"  etc.  I  am  the  man  ;  I  must  confess  that  such  words  but 
too  well  describe  my  impudence  and  folly  ! Why  our  transla- 
tors in  this  verse  say  "  Who  is  he  ?  " — rather  than  as  in  38  :  2 — 
"Who  is  this  f  " — the  Hebrew  being  the  same  in  both  cases — is  not 
apparent.     The  woi'd  "this"  is  the  best,  as  more  suggestive  of 

insignificance. Observe  Job  says — "  Therefore  hawo  I  uttered," 

etc.,  i.  e.,  I  am  the  foolish,  guilty  man  who  has  been  darkening 
counsel  by  unwise,  unmeaning  words ;  that  is  the  reason  why  I 
have  uttered  what  I  know  not  and  never  shall  know  (the  Hebrew 
tense  being  both  present  and  future) — things  too  wonderful  for 
me,  which  I  not  only  have  not  known  but  never  shall  know. 

4.  Hear,  I  beseech  thee,  and  I  will  speak  :  I  will  demand 
of  thee,  and  declare  thou  unto  me. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.  XLIJ.  221 

5.  I  have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear :  but 
now  mine  eye  seeth  thee. 

6.  Wherefore  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes. 

V.  4  might  perhaps  be  thought  irreverent  in  tone  but  for  the 
fiict  that  Job  quotes  in  substance  words  twice  spoken  by  the  Lord 

himself  (38:  3  and  40:  7). Witli  matchless  force  and  fitness 

Job  compares  his  present  knowledge  of  God  to  that  of  sight ;  his 
past,  to  that  of  hearing. — 1  have  heard  about  thee  before ;  now  I 
see  thee.  All  human  experience  testifies  to  the  clearness,  vivid- 
ness, perfection,  of  our  sense-perceptions  through  the  eye  as  com- 
pared with  the  dullness  and  feebleness  of  impressions  that  come 
only  through  the  ear.  We  hear  about  things  remote  ;  the  words 
bring  only  dim  images  and  feeble  perceptions  ;  but  when  the  eye 
takes  them  all  in  with  undimmed  vision,  a  new  sense  of  what  they 

are  flashes  upon  the  soul ! It  is  not  perhaps  certain  that  Job 

meant  to  say,  I  know  more  truth,  more  facts  about  God,  now  than 
before;  but  it  is  entirely  certain  that  he  meant — 1  feel  the  force 
of  what  I  know  as  I  never  did  before.  I  have  a  sense  of  what 
God  is;  I  am  impressed  Avith  his  purity,  greatness,  majesty  and 
glory  as  never  in  my  former  life.  This  was  the  main  point  in  the 
antithesis  between  the  past  and  the  present — the  hearing  of  the 

ear  and  the  vision  through  the  eye. In  v.  6  the  translators  have 

supplied  "  myself"  in  Italics,  to  indicate  that  no  corresponding 
word  appears  in  the  Hebrew.  Such  is  the  fact,  due  to  the  idiomatic 
structure  of  the  language  which  represents  reciprocal  action  not 
by  any  word  corresponding  to  self  but  by  special  forms  of  the 
verb.  In  the  present  case  the  real  sense  is  not  badly  given  in 
the  phrase — "  I  abhor  myself"  yet  the  more  exact  meaning  is — 1 
loathe,  repel,  disown  my  former  self — the  rash,  irreverent  words 
I  have  spoken  and  the  hateful  spirit  I  have  indulged.  The  most 
concise  and  forcible  way  of  expressing  this  in  our  tongue  is  as  we 
have  it  here,  "  I  abhor  myself  '  So  Job  felt  to  the  very  depths 
of  his  soul.  I  see  thee,  O  my  God,  as  never  before :  therefore  I 
abhor  all  my  past  words  and  thoughts,  even  my  whole  attitude 
and  bearing  toward  Thee  ;  and  I  repent  in  dust  and  ashes.  No 
external  symbols  of  humiliation,  sorrow,  penitence,  can  be  too 
strong  for  my  case. 

7.  And  it  was  so,  that  after  the  Lord  had  spoken  these 
words  unto  Job,  the  Lord  said  to  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  My 
wrath  is  kindled  against  thee,  and  against  thy  tAvo  friends  :  for 
ye  have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  that  is  right,  as  my  serv- 
ant Job  hath. 

8.  Therefore  take  unto  you  now  seven  bullocks  and  seven 
rams,  and  go  to  my  servant  Job,  and  offer  up  for  yourselves 
a  burnt-offering ;  and  my  servant  Job  shall  pray  for  you  :  for 
him  will  I  accept :  lest  I  deal  with  you  after  your  folly,  in 


222  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XLII. 

that  ye  have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  ivhich  is  right,  like 
my  servant  Job. 

9.  So  Eliphaz  the  Temauite,  and  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and 
Zophar  the  Naamathite,  went  and  did  according  as  the  Lord 
commanded  them :  the  Lord  also  accepted  Job. 

The  Lord  gives  his  decision  upon  the  case  of  the  three  friends. 
Saying  it  twice  over  he  makes  the  point  emphatic — "  Ye  have  not 
spoken  as  to  me  the  right  thing,  as  Job  my  servant  has."  Does 
this  refer  to  Job's  latest  words,  expressing  his  penitence  and  shame ; 
or  rather  to  the  doctrine  held  by  Job  on  the  great  points  at  issue 
as  to  God's  ways  of  providence  and  discipline  in  this  world  ? 
Probably  the  latter  is  included  ;  the  former  can  scarcely  be  left 
out  of  the  divine  thought.  As  he  then  stood  before  the  Lord,  Job 
was  accepted,  and  his  prayers  for  his  brethren  could  be  heard. 
Noticeably,  the  words  of  the  Lord  imply  that  while  he  could  hear 
Job's  prayer,  he  cotcld  not  hear  theirs.  "  Go  (said  he  to  them),  take 
your  animals  for  sacrifice  to  Job  ;  offer  them  up  for  yourselves 
there  in  his  presence.  He  will  pi'ay  for  you,  ybr  J  will  accept  his 
prayers,  that  I  deal  not  with  you  according  to  your  folly  " — i.  e., 
so  that  I  shall  not  be  compelled  to  visit  your  folly  upon  your  own 

heads. The  circumstance  that  the  Lord  bade  the  three  friends 

ask  Job  to  pray  for  themselves,  intimating  that  he  Avould  hear  Job 
in  their  behalf  but  could  not  hear  them,  is  too  significant  and  too 
instructive  to  be  passed  over  lightly.  Think  of  the  keen  rebuke 
it  bore  to  those  misjudging,  heartless  friends  !  They  had  "verily 
thought  themselves  doing  God  service  "  by  maintaining  that  his 
providences  were  wholly  and  only  retributive,  and  that  therefore, 
Job  must  be  the  greatest  of  sinners.  They  felt  themselves  justified 
in  charging  him  with  crimes  he  never  dreamed  of,  and  thought  (no 
doubt)  that  they  did  well  to  harden  their  souls  against  all  sympa- 
thy and  pity  for  their  smitten,  suffering  friend.  It  must  have 
taken  them  as  a  galling  surprise  when  the  Lord  said — "Go  to  Job, 
and  ask  his  prayers  in  your  own  behalf     I  shall  hear  him  :  I  can 

not  hear  you  "  ! Were  they  standing  by  when   Job  humbled 

himself  so  penitently  before  the  Lord,  and  did  they  hear  his  con- 
fessions and  woi'ds  of  self-abasement  ?  And  was  all  this  power- 
less on  their  Pharisaic  souls  ?  If  so,  there  was  only  the  more 
fitness  in  this  sharp  rebuke. Moreover  on  Job's  side,  this  ar- 
rangement was  a  model  of  wisdom.  If  any  ill  feeling  had  sprung  up 
in  Job's  human  sensibilities  toward  these  abusive  brethren,  this  was, 
of  all  means  possible  the  most  effective  to  cure  it.  Let  him  pray 
for  them  !  Let  him  go  before  the  f\ice  of  the  pure,  the  loving, 
the  forgiving  Father,  and  ask  him  to  forgive  their  offense.  How 
sweetly  this  would  mollify  his  own  feelings!  How  insensibly 
yet  how  surely  it  would  mold  his  spirit  into  forgiveness  and  love  ! 

10.  And  the  Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job,  when  he 
prayed  for  his  friends  :  also  the  Lord  gave  Job  twice  as  much 
as  he  had  before. 


THE    BOOK    OF  JOB. — CHAP.   XLII.  223 

There  can  be  no  question  that  "  captivity  "  is  here  a  firrure  of 
speech  to  denote  a  condition  of  deepest  aflliction  and  extreme 
privation  of  good.  In  that  age  and  country  when  whole  families 
were  so  often  dragged  away  from  home  and  friends  into  hopeless 
bondage,  the  figure  could  not  fail  to  be  impressive.  Ewald  remarks 
that  this  figure  (captivity)  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  lan- 
guage in  7  :  12  and  12  :  14  and  13:  27. Job's  captivity  was  most 

emphatically  turned  in  the  sense  that  his  state  of  deep  aflliction 
was  in  every  point  completely  reversed;  especially  in  those  re- 
spects which  bore  most  grievously  upon  him — the  light  of  God 
upon  his  soul;  the  charge  of  egregious  crimes  ;  the  withdrawal 
of  even  common  respect,  and  the  heaping  of  cruel  contempt  and 

scorn  upon  him  as  one  utterly  outcast  from  God. The  Lord  not 

only  restored  but  doubled  his  possessions. 

11.  Then  came  there  unto  him  all  his  brethren,  and  all  his 
sister.s,  and  all  they  that  had  been  of  his  acquaintance  before, 
and  did  eat  bread  with  him  in  his  house:  and  they  bemoaned 
him,  and  comforted  him  over  all  the  evil  that  the  Lord  had 
brought  upon  him :  every  man  also  gave  him  a  jiiece  of 
money,  and  every  one  an  ear-ring  of  gold. 

12.  So  the  Lord  blessed  the  latter  end  of  Job  more  than 
his  beginning :  for  he  had  fourteen  thousand  sheep,  and  six 
thousand  camels,  and  a  thousand  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a  thou- 
sand she-asses. 

13.  He  had  also  seven  sons,  and  three  daughters. 

14.  And  he  called  the  name  of  the  first,  Jemima ;  and  the 
nanie  of  the  second,  Kezia ;  and  the  name  of  the  third,  Keren- 
happuch. 

15.  And  in  all  the  land  were  no  women  found  so  fair  as 
the  daughters  of  Job  :  and  their  father  gave  them  inheritance 
among  their  brethren. 

Children  he  had  none  to  return  to  Rim  now  with  greetings  and 
consolations  ;  but  his  brethren  and  sisters  came  and  all  his  former 
acquaintance.  K^oticeably  they  came  not  only  to  condole  and 
comfort,  but  to  contribute  to  re-establish  his  fortune.  How  much 
the  "  kesiia" — ("a  piece  of  money  ")  amounted  to  in  value,  is  not 
entirely  certain.  Some  estimate  it  at  about  two  shekels  ;  others, 
four.  It  was  not  a  coin  but  a  certain  weight — a  circumstance 
which  proves  a  vei-y  high  antiquity — the  stamping  of  coin  indi- 
cating a  somewhat  advanced  stage  of  civilization.  It  is  only  in 
the  age  of  th-e  Pentateuch  that  we  read  of  money  passing  by  weight. 

We  have  this  same  word  Gen.  33  :  19. Of  Job's  three  daughters 

three  facts  are  given  ;-:-that  in  personal  beauty  they  surpassed  all 
the  daughtei's  of  the  East;  that  their  father  gave  them  inheri- 
tance among  their  brethren,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  depart- 
ure from   the  usages  of  the  age ;  and  thirdly,  their  individual 


224  THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. — CHAP.  XLII. 

names.  Since  oriental  names  are  always  significant,  we  may  sup- 
pose the  writer  intended  to  give  his  readers  whatever  suggestions 
this  significance  might  afford.  "Jemima"  is  a  dove;  "  Kezia"  is 
the  name  for  cassia,  one  of  the  ai'omatic  spices  of  the  East,  and 
"  Keren-happuch  "  is  a  paint-horn — a  horn  containing  paint.  It 
will  be  seen  that  these  significant  names  look  toward  beauty,  cul- 
ture, refinement. 

16.  After  this  lived  Job  a  liimdred  and  forty  years,  and 
saw  his  sons,  and  his  sons'  sons,  even  fonr  generations. 

17.  So  Job  died,  being  old  and  full  of  days. 

The  great  age  which  Job  ultimately  attained  is  a  noticeable  fact. 
He  could  scarcely  have  been  less  than  fifty  at  the  time  of  these 
events  ;  since  he  had  seven  sons  and  three  daughters — the  sons  at 
least  having  homes  if  not  even  families  of  their  own.  His  entire 
life  therefore  reached  (supposably)  the  age  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety — exceeding  that  of  Abraham  by  fifteen  years  and  that  of 
Isaac  by  ten.  This  fact  is  important,  both  as  indicating  the  great 
prosperity  which  ultimately  crowned  the  last  and  longest  period 
of  his  life,  and  also  as  supplying  some  data  for  the  general  chro- 
nology of  the  book— the  place  in  history  and  time  to  which  these 
events  must  be  assigned.  True,  his  age  was  exceptionally  great 
compared  with  other  patriarchs  of  his  time.  Yet  notwithstand- 
ing some  deductions  on  this  score,  his  great  age  should  still  have 
w^eight  in  fixing  the  time  when  he  lived.  Moses  reached  an  ex- 
treme age — one  hundred  and  twenty.  Job  must  have  lived  in 
earlier  times  than  his. 

It  is  refreshing  to  think  of  these  long  years,  of  a  purer,  higher 
religious  life,  of  far  better  views  of  God's  ways  in  providence,  of 
wholesome  reflection  upon  his  past  experience  ;  of  deep,  unalloyed 
bliss  in  the  communiop  of  human  souls  with  God,  the  Infinite 
Father,  when  they  have  truly  come  down  into  their  own  place  of 
humble,  trustful  submission  and  grateful  love.  So  we  may  sup- 
pose Job  filled  out  one  hundred  and  forty  years  of  a  fruitful,  ripen- 
ing old  age,  himself  a  joy  to  his  children  and  friends,  and  they 
a  joy  and  consolation  to  him — his  chastened  spirit  continually 
witnessing — "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afllicted." 

It  is  now  in  place  to  take  a  general  view  of  the  aim  and  results 
of  this  closing  section  of  the  book  of  Job — the  words  attributed 
to  Jehovah,  as  the  final  umpire  in  this  long  debate  (chap.  38-42). 

In  the  first  place  the  speech  has  perfect  unity  of  aim  and  pur- 
pose. It  aims  at  one  result  and  one  only — which  is,  to  impress 
Job  with  a  sense  of  his  folly  and  sin  in  the  severe  reflections  he 
had  cast  upon  God's  justice  and  upon  the  general  course  of  his 
providence  toward  himself.  To  show  that-  God  is  gi*eat  and  Job 
very  little  ;  that  God  is  wise  and  good,  and  has  all  the  power  and 
skill  requisite  to  manage  Avell  the  universe  he  has  created,  while 
Job  is  infinitely  too  weak,  too  vile,  too  ignorant,  to  assume  the 


THE   BOOK  OF  JOB.  -CHAP.  XLII.  225 

place  and  to  do  the  Avork  of  God,  or  even  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
God's  doings — these  are  the  aims  of  this  sublime  address.  It  was 
shaped  and  planned  to  humble  Job  and  to  impress  him  with  a 
keen  sense  of  his  unspeakable  folly  and  impious  presumption  in 
calling  God  to  account  for  his  providential  government  over  men  ; 
— and  it  fully  acco7nplis7ied  its  j^ii'T^^^- 

Next,  let  us  note  carefully  some  points  not  embraced  within  the 
plan  and  purpose  of  this  address.  It  was  manifestly  not  within 
its  purpose  to  discuss  or  to  pass  upon  the  whole  problem  of  suffer- 
ing as  sent  (or  suffered  to  fall)  upon  good  men.  It  was  no  part  of  its 
aim  to  show  that  those  sufferings  are  disciplinary/ ;  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  they  are  retributive ;  or  that  they  may  be  sometimes  of 
the  one  sort  and  sometimes  of  the  other ;  or  that  they  may  com- 
bine both  purposes  at  once.  These  points  had  indeed  been  in- 
volved largely  in  the  discussion,  as  reported,  between  the  three 
friends,  Job,  and  Elihu.  But  in  the  final  award  by  the  Almighty, 
he  saw  fit  to  make  no  direct  allusion  to  these  points  of  the  debate, 
except  so  far  as  may  be  involved  in  his  disapproval  of  what  the 
three  friends  had  said;  and  even  this  may  refer  to  their  spirit 
fully  as  much  as  to  their  doctrine.  But  the  Lord  made  no  clear 
decision  as  to  the  truth  of  any  of  these  diverse  theories,  nor  did 
he  discuss  them  at  all. 

It  will  help  us  to  gain  the  true  view  of  the  aim  of  this  great  ad- 
dress if  we  consider  carefully  the  historic  occasion  of  this  entire 
discussion,  viz.,  the  case  of  suffering  Job,  out  of  which  it  grew. 
Job  had  the  reputation  even  before  the  Lord  of  most  exemplary 
piety — "  a  man  who  feared  God  and  eschewed  evil."  Yet  upon 
him  there  fell  all  suddenly  a  fearful  avalanche  of  sufferings — 
which  stripped  him  of  every  earthly  good  and  left  him  only  a  suf- 
fering existence.  Now,  be  it  specially  noticed,  the  occasion  of 
these  terrific  inflictions  was  a  tcst-issve  between  God  and  Satan 
upon  the  question  whether  Job's  piety  was  or  was  not  sheer  self- 
ishness. Was  it  real  piety  at  all  ?  Satan  declared  it  was  not,  and 
said  that  if  God  were  to  strip  Job  of  all  the  good  he  had  given 
him.  Job  would  renounce  his  piety.  The  Lord  said — I  put  him  in 
your  hand  to  take  from  him  every  thing  short  of  life:  try  him  if 
you  will.  These  memorable  afflictions  therefore  came  of  God's 
permission,  but  were  really  inflicted  by  Satan  for  the  purpose 
here  indicated. 

From  these  historic  f:\cts,  which  disclose  to  us  the  occasion  and 
purpose  of  these  extraordinary  sufferings,  the  folloM'ing  inferences 
come  irresistibly,  viz.  : 

L  That  these  sufferings  sent  upon  Job  were  in  no  proper  sense 
either  disciplinary  or  retributive.  In  the  light  of  their  primary 
purpose  as  permitted  of  God,  they  were  not  sent  either  for  his 
discipline  and  correction,  or  as  retribution  for  his  sin.  There- 
fore they  did  not  at  all  involve  the  question  yb?-  which  of  these  two 
supposable  ends  were  they  sent,  because  they  were  sent  for 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  As  shown  in  the  definitely  re- 
vealed  occasion  of  their  being  permitted,  the  question  at  issue 


226  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. — CHAP.    XLTI. 

between  discipline  and  retribution  did  not  come  in  at  all,  but  was 
really  ruled  out. 

2.  Another  inference,  equally  logical  and  resistless,  is  that,  as 
the  occasion  in  this  case  lay  outside  the  possible  knowledge  of 
mortals,  where  neither  Job  nor  his  friends  could  know  any  thing 
about  it,  such  occasions  may  arise  again ;  nay,  more,  may  occur 
often,  in  which  the  ultimate  reason  why  good  men  suffer  lies  out- 
side the  pale  of  human  discernment,  and  therefore  must  be  to  man 
an  it7ipenetrable  viystery.  That  is  to  say,  God  may  have  good 
reasons  for  afflicting  his  saints  which,  under  the  present  laws  of 
our  world  he  can  not  reveal  to  us,  and  we  are  therefore  shut  up 
to  submission  and  to  trust,  ivithout  knoiving  the  reasons.  There 
may  be,  nay,  more,  there  loill  he,  cases  which  defy  all  human 
philosophy  to  account  for  them.  The  ultimate  reasons  lie  beyond 
the  possible  range  of  our  knowledge.  We  can  not  force  these 
mysterious  cases  under  the  head  of  retribution  for  sins  committed, 
or  of  discipline  and  correction  for  the  spiritual  profit  of  the  suf- 
ferer. The  latter  result  may  follow  as  incidental.  From  the 
nature  of  the  case  it  is  very  sure  to  be  an  incidental  result;  but 
the  ultimate  reason  why  the  stroke  falls  where  and  as  it  does,  is 
the  point  now  under  consideration,  and  this  may  lie  in  a  realm 
into  which  no  human  eye  can  pierce.  Now  these  facts  are  entirely 
vital  to  the  solution  of  the  great  problem  of  the  Book  of  Job. 
They  constitute  the  very  gist  of  this  problem — the  center  and 
soul  of  it.  As  the  book  is  built  historically  upon  circumstances 
lying  altogether  outside  the  pale  of  human  cognizance;  as  the 
sufferings  of  Job  were  brought  upon  him  in  pursuance  of  this 
test-conflict  between  God  and  Satan;  a  case  is  here  "made  up" 
(as  the  lawyers  would  say)  to  illustrate  and  settle  a  principle  at 
law — in  the  government  of  God.  The  entire  problem  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  good  men  can  not  be  brought  within  the  alternatives — 
discipline  or  retribution.  It  may  lie  outside  of  either  and  of  both. 
It  may  set  at  naught,  therefore,  all  the  soundings  of  our  longest 

line  of  human  philosophy. Thus  the  case  of  Job  brings  us  to 

the  Sublime  moral  conclusion  that  God  reigns  in  perfect  power, 
wisdom,  and  love,  and  therefore  surely  doeth  all  things  well.  Hence, 
our  only  and  highest  wisdom  and  our  most  sacred  duty  terminate 
in  sweet,  humble  submission  to  his  will,  trusting  with  utmost  con- 
fidence that  his  own  results  will  in  the  end  vindicate  his  wisdom 
and  his  love.  Consequently  we  may  see  the  wisdom  and  the 
pertinence  of  this  closing  section  of  the  book — the  words  of  the 
Almighty.  He  had  one  end  to  accomplish  in  this  address — the 
best  he  could  possibly  propose  to  himself — viz.,  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion for  submission  and  faith  as  toward  himself  under  any  possible 
sufferings  that  may  befall  us,  amid  the  extremest  darkness  and 
mystery  as  to  his  immediate  and  special  purposes  in  the  afflictions 
he  may  send  upon  his  people. 

Other  various  moral  lessons  of  this  book  will  receive  special 
attention  in  the  conclusion. 


CONCLUSION. 


Under  this  head  I  group  several  miscellaneous  topics,  inci- 
dental to  the  discussions  of  this  book. 

I.  The  true  doctrine  as  to  the  implred  authority  of  the  contents 
of  Job. 

For  the  sake  of  two  quite  diverse  classes — those  who  re- 
ceive all  they  find  in  the  Bible  with  unquestioning  but 
sometimes  unenlightened  faith  ;  and  those  whose  bent  is  to 
receive  none  of  it,  this  investigation  ought  to  be  a  part  of 
every  work  which  aims  to  place  the  Book  of  Job  in  its  true 
light  before  the  public. 

My  aim  is  not  precisely  to  discuss  the  inspiration  of  this 
book  as  a  wdiole  by  adducing  the  reasons  for  and  against  its 
admission  into  the  Jewish  canon ;  nor,  back  of  this,  the 
question  whether  it  was  so  admitted.  The  point  I  aim  at 
will  be  gathered  from  this  statement  of  the  question :  What 
opinions  expressed  and  what  things  said  b>j  th-e  various  speakers 
in  this  book  are  to  he  accepted  as  having  insjnred  authority  1 
And  on  what  principle  shall  the  line  be  drawn  between  the 
inspired  words  and  the  uninspired? 

Even  a  slight  attention  to  this  book  will  show  that  in 
general  character  and  composition,  it  stands  entirely  by  itself 
among  the  numerous  books  of  the  Bible,  differing  from  any 
and  every  other  in  its  general  structure  and  subject-matter. 
It  does  not  detail  to  us  the  personal  history,  words  and  deeds 
of  Jesus  as  in  the  four  gosjjels ;  nor  the  history  of  the  plant- 
ing of  Christian  churches  as  in  the  "Acts  of  Ihe  Apostles;" 
nor  is  it  made  up  of  letters  to  those  churches ;  nor  (compar- 
ing it  with  the  other  Old  Testament  books)  is  it  the  history 
of  the  Jewish  Church  or  nation,  or  the  messages  and  pre- 
dictions   of   the  old   prophets ;   or   the  wisdom  of  ins^nred 

(227) 


228  CONCLUSION. — INSPIRED   AUTHORITY. 

sages  in  the  form  of  proverbs;  nor  is  it  sacred  songs  from 
tlie  sweet  Psalmists  of  Israel  for  the  devotions  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. No;  it  stands  apart  from  any  and  all  of  these  books 
— a  special  discussion  of  a  great  theological  problem — a 
discussion  carried  on  by  a  number  of  disputants,  each  bearing 
his  respective  part — which  the  Lord  himself  closed  at  length 
by  appearing  as  umpire  and  giving  the  final  decision.  The 
theological  problem  was  no  other  than  the  sufferings  of  good 
men  in  the  present  life,  considered  as  coming  from  the  hand  of 
God  ;  or  in  other  words,  the  principles  of  God's  administra- 
tion of  good  and  evil  upon  men  in  the  present  life.  As  dis- 
cussed between  Job,  his  three  friends  and  Elihu,  it  bore 
mainly  on  the  point  whether  the  sufferings  or  blessings  sent 
of  God  are  retributive,  or  are  disciplinary,  or  may  include 

both. Now  it  is  obvious  that  in  such  a  discussion — the 

speakers  taking  perhaps  not  only  diverse  but  even  op- 
posite grounds  and  expressing  opposite  opinions,  it  would 
not  be  safe  to  read  the  book  with  the  foregone  conclusion 
that  all  its  contents — all  the  expressed  opinions  of  men  which 
it  records — being  in  the  Bible — must  be  true  and  even  of 
inspired  authority.  Here  are  some  thoughts  and  Avords 
ascribed  to  Satan,  whose  name  and  chai^acter  are  sufficient 
vouchers  that  those  at  least  are  lies  (John  8 :  44).  Here  are 
whole  chapters  of  discourse  from  Job's  three  friends  (Eli- 
phaz,  Bildad,  Zophar),  whose  Avords  Jehovah,  in  his  final 
award,  did  not  by  any  means  indorse,  but  disapproved,  de- 
claring— "Ye  have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  that  is  right, 
as  my  servant  Job  hath.  Offer,  therefoi'e,  for  yourselves  a 
burnt-offering  and  my  servant  Job  shall  pray  for  you  .  .  . 
lest  I  deal  with  you  after  your  folly  in  that  ye  have  not  spoken 
of  me  the  thing  Avhich  is  right,  like  my  servant  Job "  (42 : 

7,  8). This  comparative  indorsement  of  Job's  Avords  as 

more  right  than  theirs  still  leaves  the  question  open : — Hoav 
much  of  Avhat  Job  said  was  purposely  indorsed  by  the  Lord 
as  right?  Certainly  not  all  of  it,  else  the  Lord  AA'ould  not 
have  come  down  upon  him  Avith  that  appalling,  Avithering  ex- 
clamation— "  Who  is  this  that  hideth  counsel  by  Avords 
Avithout  knoAvledge"?  (38:2).  Indeed  it  is  a  grave  question 
Avhether  the  Lord's  comparative  a2:)proval  of  Job's  AA'ords 
above  those  of  his  three  friends  had  not  a  sioecial,  possibly 
an  exclusive,  reference  to  Job's  then  recent  Avords  of  deep 
contrition,  humble  confession  and  most  profound  humilia- 
tion. It  is  scarcely  supposable  that  he  had  no  reference  to 
these  most  fitting  and  precious  Avords.     He  might  have  re- 


CONCLUSION. — INSPIRED   AUTHORITY.  229 

ferred  also  in  a  qualified  way  to  the  general  doctrine  main- 
tained by  Job  in  the  discussion,  indorsing  it  as  nearer  the 
truth  than  the  views  of  his  three  opi^onents.  But  even  if 
this  be  admitted,  the  indorsement  is  still  too  vague  and 
indefinite  to  give  us  any  considerable  aid  in  determining 
which  of  Job's  expressed  views  were  aj:) proved  of  God,  and 
which  were  not. 

Tiiere  was  a  fifth  speaker — the  young  man  Elihu — from 
whom  we  have  six  chapters,  but  no  word  from  the  Almighty 
appears  in  the  book,  either  indorsing  or  not  indorsing  what 
he  said. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  sanction  of  God's  special 
indorsement  to  the  doctrines  held  and  the  opinions  expressed 
by  the  speakers  in  this  discussion  is  given  very  sparingly.  In 
regard  to  most  that  is  said,  it  is  not  given  at  all,  but  from 
much  of  it  it  is  distinctly  withheld. — Yet  from  these  premises, 
let  no  reader  leap  rashly  to  the  conclusion  that  these  discus- 
sions are  therefore  useless  to  us  and  unworthy  of  a  place  in 
the  inspired  book  of  God.  Not  all  Scripture  is  recom- 
mended as  profitable  for  doctrine.  Some  of  it  is  good  for 
"reproof"  and  some  for  "instruction."  In  Job  are  some 
things  that  God  meant  to  reprove,  and  his  reproof  of  them  is 
exceedingly  useful  to  us.  Here  is  much  that  is  richly  instruc- 
tive, not  for  its  truth  but  for  its  error — for  the  grievous  mis- 
takes Avhich  (as  shown  here)  good  men  made  in  those  early 
ages  in  their  attempts  to  interpret  the  ways  of  God  toward 
godly  men.  It  is  not  easy  to  overestimate  the  value  to  us  of  this 
very  ancient  portrayal  of  the  earliest  known  views  held  by 
intelligent  men  on  the  great  problems  of  this  book.  If  they 
groped  ill  comparative  darkness  and  made  some  grievous 
mistakes,  let  us  the  more  bless  God  for  the  clearer  light  of 
our  Christian  age  ;  nay  more — let  us  be  thankful  that  we  are 
shown  how  in  those  very  early  times  the  Lord  condescended 
to  come  down  and  bear  a  hand  in  this  momentous  discussion, 
and  let  in  some  light  from  the  very  heavens  above,  upon  this 

dark   problem. Yet  further,   a  record  in  the   Bible   of 

things  said  and  done  may  be  truthful,  and  yet  not  in  the 
highest  sense  inspired.  It  may  be  valuable  because  it  is 
true,  and  because,  being  true,  it  becomes  instructive.  So  far 
as  appears,  there  is  no  ground  to  question  the  essential  truth 
of  the  historic  records  in  this  book  as  to  the  great  afllic- 
tions  that  befell  Job,  nor  to  question  his  own  statements  con- 
cerning himself;  his  physical  and  his  mental  agonies;  the 
fearful  conflicts  of  soul  through  which  he  passed  ;  the  social 


230  CONCLUSION. — INSPIRED   AUTHORITY. 

contempt  into  which  he  fell ;  and  the  ci'uel  susi^icion — nay- 
more,  the  groundless  charges  against  his  moral  character 
with  which  his  friends  harassed  and  tormented  this  greatest 
of  human  sufferers.  The  truth  of  these  statements  serves  to 
heighten  the  interest  of  the  great  problem  which  this  book 
labors  to  solve.  It  is  no  mere  ideal  question  of  theory  or 
speculation.  It  comes  down  to  actual  human  experience, 
into  the  deepest  sensibilities  of  human  hearts.  The  book 
therefore  has  both  interest  and  value,  even  though  many  of 
the  opinions  it  expresses  and  of  the  doctrines  it  puts  forward 
from  the  lips  of  its  speakers  lack  the  authority  of  direct  in- 
spiration from  God. 

If  now  it  be  deemed  important  to  give  a  general  rule  or 
draw  a  line  which  may  separate  the  non-inspired  declara- 
tions of  this  book  from  the  inspired,  it  may  be  said (a) 

All  that  fills  from  the  lips  of  Jehovah  lacks  no  element  of 
supreme  authority,  (b)  What  fell  from  human  lips  can  not 
be  accepted  as  inspired  merely  on  the  ground  that  they  said 
it.  These  disputants  were  not  prophets,  inspired  of  God, 
they  were  not  speaking  as  men  sent  of  God,  and  indorsed  by 
God  either  by  miracle  or  by  prophecy,  or  by  a  prophetic 

character  established  in  any  reliable  way. Consequently 

their  words  must  be  brought  to  some  other  standard  than 
their  own  personal  authority  for  a  worthy  judgment  as  to 
their  being  the  truth  of  God.  But  this  amounts  to  saying 
that  those  words,  considered  in  themselves,  are  inspired  in 
no  other  or  higher  sense  than  the  words  of  uninspired  men 
in  every  age  ; — i.  e.,  are  not  in  any  just  sense  inspired  at  all. 

Applying  these  results  to  the  speeches  of  Job's  three  friends, 

we  have  these  things  to  say  : (1).  They  have  spoken  some 

truth,  but  nothing  that  is  in  any  just  sense  inspired — nothing 

that  has  authority  as  coming  from  God. (2)  The  one  main 

doctrine  which  they  labored  incessantly  to  establish  and  to 
press  upon  Job  is  unquestionably  false,  viz.,  the  doctrine  that 
all  the  evils  which  befall  men  in  this  Avorld  are  retributive — 
the  proper  punishment  of  sin ;  and  are  therefore  an  index  to 
the  sufterer's  guilt.  This  can  not  be  true.  To  prove  it  from 
human  experience  and  observation  would  require  the  testi- 
mony to  be  universal  and  7iever  varying.  But  the  proof  they 
adduced  was  very  limited.  The  only  thing  they  proved  was 
that  iti  some  cases — not  in  all  cases — wicked  men  suffered  in 
this  life.  Of  course  their  proofs  utterly  failed  to  sustain 
their  proposition.  All  such  ])roving  of  that  doctrine  must 
fail  in   the   same  way. (3)  In  the  final  decision  passed 


CONCLUSIOX. — DOCTRINE  AS  TO  THE  UXDER-WOELD.  231 

upon  the  merits  of  this  discussion  by  the  Lord  himself,  he 
distinctly  disallowed,  and  thereby  condemned  their  doctrine. 

(4)  Essentially  the  same  doctrine,  held  to  some  extent 

in  the  time  of  our  Lord's  ministry,  received  his  unc|ualified 

condemnation.     See  Luke  13  :  1-5  and  John  9  :  2,  3.- (5) 

It  might  be  objected  against  this  doctrine  that  it  is  of  perni- 
cious tendency  and  thei^efore  can  not  be  true.  This  point 
will  come  up  for  consideration  hereafter. 

Tlie  genera]  results  above  expressed  in  regard  to  the  in- 
spired authority  of  the  opinions  found  in  this  book  should  be 
applied  to  the  doctrine  of  the  under-world — the  Sheol  of  the 
Hebrew  WTiters.  The  abode  and  state  of  human  souls  after 
death  have  constituted  one  of  the  great  problems  of  human 
thought  and  search  through  all  the  ages.  Every  thing  we  can 
hioiv  upon  this  subject,  we  shall  accept,  not  only  with  joy  and 
thankfulness,  but  with  a  sense  of  relief  as  when  great  burdens 
of  doubt  and  darkness  are  lifted  from  the  heart.  Oh,  if  we 
might  only  hnoxv  something  with  certainty  as  to  that  home 
for  the  departed  spirit  which  is  so  soon  to  be  our  own !  But 
have  we  any  revelations  here  from  the  lips  of  Job  that  will 

add  to  our  certain  knowledge  of  this  under-world  ? It  may 

at  least  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  us  to  study  what  he  says 
and  to  ascertain  the  views  held  in  those  earliest  ages  on  this 
momentous  subject.  It  may  add  something  to  the  historical 
development  of  human  opinions,  even  though  it  add  little  or 
nothing  to  theological  science — facts  certainly  known — of  the 
future  life. 

All  we  find  in  this  book  on  the  subject  falls  from  the  lips  of 
Job  himself.  Neither  his  three  friends,  Elihu  nor  the  Lord, 
have  said  any  thing  concerning  it.  Job  has  allusions  more 
or  less  full  in  four  passages — viz.,  3 :  13-19  and  10  :  21,  22 

and  14 :  10-22  and  17  :  13-16. Comparing  these  passages, 

we  note  a  very  considerable  diversity  in  the  general  impres- 
sions they  make.  The  first  in  order  (chap.  3)  is  not  specially 
somber,  but  rather  restful  and  quiet — the  points  it  makes 
being  largely  negative,  setting  forth  the  absence  in  that  world 
of  the  various  wrongs  and  oppressions  under  which  the  millions 
of  earth  sutler  and  groan  during  their  earthly  life.  If  I  had 
gone  there  (says  Job)  direct  from  the  womb  of  my  mother, 
"  I  should  have  lain  still  and  been  quiet ;  I  should  have  slept ; 
.then  had  I  been  at  rest."  "  There  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling,  and  there  the  weary  are  at  rest.  There  the  prison- 
ers rest  together;  they  hear  not  the  voice  of  the  oppressor. 
The  small  and  great  are  there,  and  the  servant  (slave)  is  free 


232  CONCLUSION. — DOCTRINE  AS  TO  THE  UNDER-WORLD. 

from  his  master." But  while  we  may  say  of  this  picture 

that  it  isnotspeciallysomber,  of  thenextinorder  (10:  20-22), 
the  one  feature  prominent  above  all  the  rest  is — it  is  nothing 
else  but  somber.  No  words  can  be  found  that  would  intensify 
the  darkness  of  the  picture.  All  is  dark,  dark,  dismal  as  the 
night  of  the  grave;  "a  land  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of 
death ;  a  land  of  darkness  as  darkness  itself,  and  of  the  shadow 
of  death ;  without  order  [a  perfect  chaos]  where  what  light  there 
may  be  is  as  darkness." As  we  compare  these  diverse  con- 
ceptions, of  the  under-w^orld,  we  shall  be  moved  to  ask,  How 
much  were  the  views  of  Job  shaded  by  the  stand-point  from 
which  he  took  his  picture  ?  In  the  former  passage  (3  :  13-19), 
he  supposes  himself  to  have  gone  into  that  world  from  the 
point  of  his  human  birth — a  mere  spark  of  being,  with  no 
activities  of  earthly  life  involved  in  his  destiny,  no  burden  of 
guilt  upon  his  soul ;  no  dread  responsibilities  accruing  from  a 
life  of  accountable  deeds  done  here  in  the  body.  From  such 
a  stand-point  of  view,  he  sees  in  that  under-world  nothing 
for  himself  but  a  restful  waiting  (for  perhaps  he  knows  not 
what)  ;  but  in  general  the  state  is  one  where  the  giant  oppres- 
sions of  earth  are  foreclosed  and  forbidden  ever  to  come,  and 
where  a  certain  sort  of  peace  and  quiet  reign  with  naught  to 
disturb.  Must  we  not  conclude  that  the  shadings  of  this  pic- 
ture are  projected  forward  from  the  point  where  he  stood  ? 

In  the  second  passage  (10 :  20-22),  this  is,  if  possible, 

even  more  manifest.  His  present  as  put  in  this  chapter  is 
dismal  in  the  extreme;  scarce  one  ray  of  light  blends  itself 
in  the  thick  darkness  of  his  state.  Now  may  we  not  suppose 
that  the  deep,  pure  darkness  of  the  under-world,  as  seen  from 
this  point,  was  mostly  due  to  the  mind's  power  of  projecting 
its  own  thought  and  feeling  forward  into  that  otherwise  un- 
known world,  and  coloring  it  with  the  hues  of  its  present? 

It  is  obvious  that  so  far  as  this  law  of  mind  comes  into 

play  in  Job's  painting  of  the  under-world,  it  detracts  from  the 
reliability  of  his  conceptions  as  related  to  abstract  truth. 

In  the  next  passage  (14  :  12-22)  if  my  interpretation  of  it 
is  correct,  there  is  a  new  feature,  of  immense  interest; — viz., 
the  doctrine  of  another  state  of  existence,  yet  further  onward, 
beyond  the  period  passed  in  this  under-world — where  God  will 
remember  his  servant  Job  and  manifest  a  longing  desire  to- 
ward the  work  of  his  own  hands.  Under  the  inspiration  of 
this  hope  Job  said — "  All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will 
I  wait  [in  Sheol]  till  my  change  come  " — and  I  pass  thence 
into  the  far  more  blessed  life  beyond.     The  Heb,  word  for 


CONCLUSION. DOCTRINE  AS  TO  THE  UNDER-WORLD.  233 

"appointed  time"  suggests  a  service  in  war  which  must  be 

filled  out  for  the  allotted  time. The  fourth  passage  (17  : 

13-16)  makes  a  point  of  kindred  character,  for  it  shows  that 
Job  had  yet  some  real  tangible  "  hope"  that  went  down  Avith 
Lim  within  the  bars  of  the  pit. 

In  regard  to  the  locaUty  of  this  world  of  the  dead,  all  the 
representations  both  in  Job  and  throughout  the  Old  Testa- 
ment concur  in  going  doivn  to  find  it.  It  is  belo^v.  JNIen 
thought  of  it  as  a  "pit"  as  an  iinder -world.  In  accounting 
for  this  universal  thought,  we  might  perhaps  say  that  the 
place  for  the  soul  followed  the  law  of  destination  for  the 
body.  The  body,  they  saw,  went  back  to  its  mother  earth. 
This  destination  appears  in  the  original  decree — "  Unto  dust 
thou  shalt  return."  Acustom  almost  universal  opened  a  grave 
in  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  or  an  excavation  in  rock,  to  receive 
the  mortal  remains  of  the  dead.  What  more  natural  than 
to  suppose  that  the  spirit  also  went  doivn  to  some  lower  depth, 
to  some  unknown  region  under  ground,  for  its  place  of  abode  ? 

We  might  say — Where  else  could  they  locate  its  place  ? 

Of  other  worlds,  supposably  fitted  for  its  location,  they  could 
know  nothing.  To  lift  its  home  into  the  atmosphere,  some- 
where in  the  vast  expanse  of  sky  above,  would  scarcely  meet 
their  notions  of  a  local  habitation. 

The  more  important  question  is — Can  we  allow  any  au- 
thority to  their  notions  of  the  soul's  future  locality?  I  can 
see  no  ground  for  conceding  to  them  any  authority  whatever. 
Did  they  hioiv  any  thing  on  this  point?  Nothing.  The  no- 
tion prevailed  widely,  Ave  know.  It  was  current  among  the 
ancient  Greek  and  Roman  poets,  and  was  fully  developed  in 
their  mythology ;  but  this  gives  it  no  additional  authority. 

Furthermore,  the  ancient  classic  mythologies  made  tAvo 

great  apartments  in  this  under-Avorld  ;  the  one  dismal,  cheer- 
less, dark — fit  abode  for  guilty  souls  in  Avhich  to  Avander  ever, 
homeless  and  forlorn  :  the  other,  an  Eden  of  delights,  a  very 
Elysium,  Avhere  the  good  enjoyed  the  rcAA'ards  of  a  well-spent 

life. In  Job's  allusions  to  this  under-world,  Ave  scarcely 

find  this  twofold  conception  dcA'eloped.  The  absence  of  it 
may  be  due  to  the  brevity  and  incompleteness  of  his  allu- 
sions. The  patriarchs  of  his  times  and  of  yet  earlier  times 
speak  with  hope  and  joy  of  being  "  gathered  to  their  fathers." 
It  must  be  presumed  that  in  their  view,  the  Avicked  Avere  not 
among  them,  but  elscAvhere. 

There  are  elements  of  great  and  blessed  truth  in  all  these 
vieAVS,  whether  of  Job,  the  patriarchs,  or  the  classic  heathen 
11 


234  CONCLUSION. — DOCTRINE  AS  TO  THE  UNDER-WORLD. 

poets.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  life  for  human  souls  uiiderlies 
them  alL     Throughout,  there  is  the  assumption  of  the  soul's 

immortality. No  people  known  to  us  during  those  earliest 

ages  held  to  the  death  of  human  souls.  That  the  soul  was 
to  be  annihilated  at  death,  or  at  any  period  after  death,  seems 
never  to  have  been  thought  supposable  ;  much  less,  possible 
and  actual.  W^hether  this  early  belief  were  due  to  that  in- 
stinctive revulsion  under  which  human  souls  recoil  from  an- 
nihilation ;  or  to  a  deep  intuition  of  the  reason ;  or  to  a  sense 
of  oughtness  in  the  moral  convictions  of  men — that  human 
deeds  oiight  to  have  a  more  finished  and  just  retribution  some- 
where than  they  receive  in  this  life;  or  to  an  original  revela- 
tion from  God,  transmitted  by  tradition  from  age  to  age ; — 
to  which  of  these  sources  (if  to  one  only)  and  if  to  several, 
in  what  measure  to  each — it  is  perhaps  impossible  to  decide. 
It  may  however  suffice  for  our  present  purpose  to  say  that  a 
belief  so  universal  in  those  early  ages,  and  so  related  to  the 
noblest  qualities  of  the  human  soul,  may  safely  be  accepted 
as  founded  in  truth — too  deeply  founded  to  admit  of  rational 
question.  No  impulses  save  those  of  guilt  and  consequent 
fear  seem  ever  to  have  begotten  any  considerable  doubt  as  to 
the  certainty  of  a  future  life. 

The  conviction  that  this  future  life  is  related  to  the  present 
as  one  of  reward  and  punishment  has  been  scarcely  less  uni- 
versal— a  fact  which  goes  far  to  prove  that  this  belief  in  a 
future  life  has  been  due  mainly  to  moral  considerations — to 
evidence  coming  in  upon  its  moral  side.  There  ovght  to  be 
more  retribution  for  the  deeds  of  time  than  we  see  or  feel 
here  ;  therefore  the  soul  mud  live  on  after  the  death  of  the  body 
to  receive  it. 

As  to  the  truth  and  reliability  of  Job's  expressed  views  of 
the  under-world,  we  must  come  to  these  conclusions : 

1.  On  the  relatively  unimportant  points — its  locality  (in 
what  direction  from  our  present  home)  ;  and  upon  whatever 
relates  to  its  external,  we  can  recognize  no  authority  in  Job's 
opinions. 

2.  But  on  the  really  vital  points — e.  (/.,  the  fact  of  a  fu- 
ture life — holding  on  despite  of  death  and  w'ith  sustained 
identity  of  moral  being  and  responsibilities ;  involving  of  course, 
the  fullest  mental  consciousness  ;  a  state  of  existence  adapted 
to  retribution  for  the  deeds  of  the  life  that  now  is  ; — on  all 
these  points,  which  underlie  the  ancient  conceptions  of  the 
under-world,  there  can  remain  no  ground  for  doubt  whatever. 

Later  revelations  in  the  Scriptures  and  especially  those 


CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  235 

which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Him  who  "  brought  life  and  im- 
mortality to  light "  have  served  in  large  measure  to  fill  up 
the  outline  as  to  the  moral  pur^DOses  and  results  of  the  after 
life,  leaving  nothing  more  to  be  desired  as  to  the  great,  vital 
points  above  named  ;  but  leaving  almost  every  thing  as  to  the 
relatively  unimportant  points  of  location  and  surroundings, 
in  still  unrelieved  darkness, 

II.  A  second  topic,  deeply  involved  in  the  great  problem 
of  this  Book  of  Job,  may  be  suggested  comprehensively  by 
the  phrase — Progress  of  doctrine. — Naturally  this  progress 
runs  in  two  parallel  lines;  viz.,  (1)  Progress  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  true  doctrine  of  suffering  as  related  specially  to 
good  men  in  the  present,  life  : — (2)  Progress  correspondingly 
in  conceptions  of  the  character  and  attributes  of  God  as 
involved  in  this  great  problem — the  sufferings  of  his  people. 

1.  In  the  first  of  these  parallel  lines,  Ave  are  probably  safe 
in  assuming  that  the  earliest  stage  of  opinion  was  essentially 
that  of  Job's  three  friends,  viz.,  that  the  sufferings  of  even 
apparently  good  men  were  reirihxdke — actual  punishment 
for  sin,  and  consequently  a  true  index  to  its  aggravation. 
Under  this  stage  of  the  doctrine  it  must  always  be  held  that 
the  greatest  sufferers  are  proven  to  be  the  greatest  sinners. 
This  precisely  was  the  doctrine  which  the  three  friends  per- 
sistently maintained  and  pushed  incessantly  upon  their 
stricken  friend.  It  should  be  said,  moreover,  that  in  their 
view  human  sufferings,  though  retributive,  yet  left  the  door 
open  for  repentance  and  submission  to  God;  and  through 
this  open  door,  for  restoration  to  God's  favor — in  this  re- 
spect differing  radically  from  the  pure  and  eternal  retribu- 
tion, visited  upon  the  guilty  in  the  world  to  come.  They 
also  held  that  God's  inflictions  of  suffering  were  never  in 
violation  of  justice,  but  rather  rested  on  the  basis  of  a  per- 
fectly just  administration  of  good  or  evil  according  to  human 

desert. INIoreover,  they  maintained,   rather  by  assertion 

than  by  proof,  that  all  the  facts  of  human  life  verified  their 
theory.  They  found  some  such  facts;  but  had  to  ignore 
many  more  which  refused  to  fall  in  under  their  theory. 
Hence,  logically  considered,  their  reasoning  was  very  lame. 
In  its  bearing  upon  Job,  we  have  had  occasion  to  notice  that 
it  served  only  to  irritate  and  agonize — never  to  convince. 

2.  A  second  stage  in  the  progress  of  this  doctrine  admitted 
the  idea  of  discipline  and  correction  as  always  a  part  at  least 
of  the  divine  purpose,  but  did  not  altogether  exclude  the 
element  of  retribution.     Elihu  apparently  held  this  modified 


236  CONCLUSION, — PROGRESS    OF    DOCTRINE. 

doctrine,  giving  more  prominence  to  discipline  than  the  other 
friends  of  Job  had  done,  but  not  distinctly  excluding  retri- 
bution from  the  objects  and  designs  of  sufl'ering.  Thus  opin- 
ions were  advancing  by  stages  toward  the  true  doctrine. — 
Elihu's  views  of  suffering  as  sent  of  God  for  discipline 
are  brought  out  fully  in  33:  19-30  and  34:  31,  32  and 
36:  8-12. 

3.  A  third  and  final  stage  of  opinion  held  that  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  righteous  are  for  discipline  exclusively — always 
looking  toward  moral  culture  and  the  perfecting  of  moral 
character.  We  find  the  germ,  at  least,  of  this  perfected 
doctrine  in  Prov.  3:  11,  12:  "My  son,  despise  not  the  chas- 
tening of  the  Lord,  neither  be  weary  of  his  correction.  For 
whom  the  Lord  loveth,  he  correcteth,  even  as  a  father  the 
son  in  whom  he  delighteth."  In  the  same  strain  is  Ps.  94: 
12:  "Blessed  is  the  man  whom  thou  chastenest,  O  Lord." 
The  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  develops  the  idea 
fully  and  admirably  (12 :  5-12) :  "  Whom  the  Lord  loveth 
he  chasteneth."  .  .  .  "If  ye  endure  chastening,  God 
dealeth  with  you  as  with  sons."  Human  fathers  chasten 
(sometimes)  "after  their  own  pleasure;"  the  Great  Father 
of  our  spirits,  only  for  our  profit,  that  we  may  be  partakers 
of  his  holiness." — It  will  be  seen  that  in  this  completed  stage 
of  the  doctrine,  the  inflictions  of  suffering  upon  God's  people 
are  not  in  any  measure  vindictive,  but  on  the  contrary  are 
the  indication  and  proof  of  parental  love.  Never  are  they 
in  any  sense  retributive ;  they  are  no  part  of  the  proper  j^un- 
ishment  of  sin.  They  do  indeed  recognize  the  presence  of 
sin,  or  at  least  of  moral  imperfection.  They  assume  that  the 
sufferer  is  not  yet  as  pure  as  he  may  be,  and  are  therefore 
sent  for  the  definite  purpose  of  making  him  more  fully  a 
"partaker  of  the  Father's  holiness. 

The  second  and  parallel  line  of  progress  in  doctrine  re- 
spects the  hitman  conception  of  God  in  his  relation  to  the 
sufferings  sent  upon  apparently  good  men. — Here,  however, 
let  it  be  observed,  the  question  is  not  precisely — What  ele- 
ments enter  into  the  character  of  God  to  make  up  the  sum 
total  of  his  attributes;  but  rather  this  : — What  special  ele- 
ments of  his  character  should  be  brought  and  kept  before 
the  mind  of  the  sufferer  as  developed  toward  him,  and  what 
views  of  God  shall  he  take  as  a  means  of  adjusting  himself 
morally  to  God's  dispensations  of  affliction  ? 

Thus  considered,  we  shall  be  able  to  trace  a  manifest  prog- 


CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS    OF    DOCTEINE.  237 

ress  of  doctrine,  quite  analogous  to  the  other  line  of  jirogress 
in  the  theoiy  of  sufTering  as  above  presented. 

1.  In  the  earliest  stages  as  exemplified  by  Job's  three 
friends,  Ave  find  an  almost  exclusive  appeal  to  God's  majesty 
and  power.  He  is  to  be  thought  of  by  suffering  Job  as  great, 
far  above  man ;  as  clothed  in  majesty ;  as  ruling  to  inspire 
awe,  and  under  its  impressions  to  hush  every  murmur  into 
silence.  If  any  mystery  hangs  over  his  ways;  if  there  are 
things  not  explicable  on  the  theory  of  retribution  for  obvious 
sin — let  it  be  realized  that  God  is  a  sovereign  who  gives  no 
account  to  man  of  any  of  his  matters. Room  was  pro- 
vided under  this  scheme,  at  this  stage  of  the  doctrine,  for 
the  attribute  of  justice.  The  sufferings  inflicted  upon  men, 
being  real  retribution  for  sin,  were  measured  out  wholly  and 
only  on  the  principles  of  justice. 

2.  It  Avas  some  advance  to  bring  up  to  view  God's  attribute 
of  wmlom  as  developed  in  the  infliction  of  suffering  upon  the 
righteous.  For  wisdom  contemplates  good  ends  as  being 
definitely  sought,  and  this  led  on  toward  the  conception  of 
other  ends  than  pure  retribution.  That  God  in  fact  exer- 
cised wisdom  in  the  infliction  of  suffering  was  more  than 
suggested  by  the  appeal  made,  in  his  own  sublime  discourse, 
to  his  works  of  creation  and  providence  in  framing  the  mate- 
rial universe  and  in  constructing  its  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms.  We  have  seen  that  this  appeal  was  obviously 
shaped  to  suggest  this  inference : — Will  not  the  same  God 
be  no  less  wise  to  secure  great  and  good  ends  in  administer- 
ing his  providential  government  over  a  sinning  world  ? 

3.  Next  we  find  (e.  g.,  in  the  later  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment) a  marked  stage  of  progress  in  doctrine,  manifested  in 
setting  forth  the  pity  and  compassion  of  God  as  being  deeply 
moved  by  the  sufferings  of  his  people.  It  is  not  in  the 
Book  of  Job  but  in  the  Psalms  that  we  read :  "  Like  as  a 
father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that 
fear  him"  (Ps.  103:  15).  Not  in  Job,  but  as  far  on  as  in 
Jeremiah  (31:  18,  20)  w^e  read:  "I  have  surely  heard 
Ephraim  bemoaning  himself  thus :  Thou  hast  chastised  me, 
and  I  w^as  chastised,  as  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke." 
.  .  .  "Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son?  Is  he  a  pleasant  child? 
for  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do  earnestly  remember  him 
still.     Therefore  my  bowels  are  troubled  for  him;  and  I  Avill 

surely  have  mercy  upon  him,  saith  the  Lord." In  Hosea 

(11:  8)  Ave  find  this:  "How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim? 
How  shall  I    deliver   thee,  Israel?     .     .     .     My  heart  is 


238  CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS    OF    D(XTRINE. 

turned  within  me ;  my  repentings  are  kindled  together." 

With  exquisite  beauty  and  force  as  well  as  with  marvelous 
philosophic  distinctness,  we  find  the  whole  subject  unfolded 
in  Jeremiah's  Lamentations  (3 :  22-41).  Here  may  be  seen 
God's  purposes  of  chastening  and  moral  correction,  yet  every 
word  bathed  in  the  tenderness  of  unutterable  compassion — 
brought  home  to  the  very  heart  of  the  sufferer,  moaning 

sorely  under  the  chastening  rod. "It   is  of  the  Lord's 

mercies  that  we  are  not  consumed,  because  his  compassions 
fail  not.  .  .  .  It  is  good  for  a  man  that  he  bear  the  yoke 
in  his  youth.  He  sitteth  alone  and  keepeth  silence,  because 
he  hath  borne  it  upon  him.  He  putteth  his  mouth  in  the 
dust,  if  so  be  there  may  be  hope.  He  giveth  his  cheek  to  him 
that  smiteth  him.  For  the  Lord  will  not  cast  off  forever; 
but  though  he  cause  grief,  yet  will  he  have  compassion  ac- 
cording to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies ;  for  he  doth  not 
afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men."  .... 
"  Wherefore  doth  a  living  man  comjilain — a  man  for  the 
punishment  of  his  sins  ?  Let  us  search  and  try  our  ways, 
and  turn  again  to  the  Lord.  Let  us  lift  up  our  hearts  with 
our  hands  unto  God  in  the  heavens,"  etc. The  great  cen- 
tral idea — that  God  is  a  Father  to  Jiis  yeople,  and  chastens 
them  only  as  a  father  does  the  son  he  loves,  with  yearning, 
pitying  heart,  only  for  their  moral  good,  stands  out  very 
distinctly  in  the  Old  Testament  prophets.  Indeed,  in  their 
special  mission  to  God's  Avayward,  chastened  people,  this 
was  the  sweet  burden  of  their  message. 

4.  Finally,  in  the  last  stage,  the  full-orbed  glory  of  his 
love  to  his  peoj)le  shone  forth  in  the  incarnation — Jesus,  an 
elder  brother,  moving  among  men  during  his  earthly  life  to 
bear  their  burdens  of  sorrow  and  to  lift  crushing  griefs  from 
stricken  hearts,  ultimately  laying  down  his  life  for  his  people ; 
then  rising  to  become  and  forever  remain  a  merciful  and  com- 
passionate High  Priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God — not  one 
Avho  can  not  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  but 
one  Avho  was  tempted  in  all  points  as  his  people  are.  Coupled 
with  this  gloriously  full  and  unshaded  light  as  to  God's  com- 
passionate, loving-kindness,  there  shines  forth  also  in  the 
New  Testament  the  fullest  possible  development  of  God's 
providential  rule  for  the  best  discipline  and  culture  of  his 
people  and  for  their  richest  final  reward,  showing  how  he 
*'  makes  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God;"  how  "these  light  afflictions  which  are  but  for  a  mo- 
ment work  out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 


CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  239 

■\vei,2:lit  of  glory;"  how  "if  we  suffer  with  him  (Christ),  we 
shall  also  reign  with  hira ;"  how  "the  trial  of  your  faith 
being  much  more  precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though 
it  be  tried  Avith  fire,  may  be  found  unto  praise  and  honor 
and  glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ ; "  and  how  it  be- 
hooves us  to  "  be  in  subjection  to  the  Father  of  our  spirits 
and  live" — because  he  "cliasteus  only  for  our  profit  that  we 
may  be  partakers  of  his  holiness." 

This  New  Testament  doctrine,  it  will  be  seen,  is  far  in  ad- 
vance of  the  doctrine  held  and  set  forth  by  the  human 
speakers  in  the  Book  of  Job.  Many  (perhaps  not  all)  of 
tlie  reasons  for  a  light  on  this  subject  so  dim  in  Job  and  so 
full  and  glorious  in  Paul  and  Peter,  are  within  our  reach, 
and  may  be  briefly  suggested — thus : 

Not  all  the  Bible  could  be  compressed  into  one  chapter.— 
Historical  facts  and  events,  such  as  the  ways  of  God  with 
ancient  Israel ;  the  persecutions  endured  by  Christian  martyrs 
in  the  New  Testament  age;  and,  more  tlian  all,  the  great 
fact  of  the  incarnation,  afforded  illustrations  and  manifesta- 
tions of  God  by  means  of  which  the  revelations  of  himself 
to  men  were  continually  progressing,  and  without  Avhich 
illustrative  aid,  finite  minds  could  not  be  taught  of  God  im- 
pressively. But  history  is  a  thing  of  time.  It  takes  time  to 
7nake  historij;  time  therefore  to  evolve  Avhatever  requires  the 

aid  of  historic  events  to  unfold  it. Again,  it  has  manifestly 

been  in  the  divine  plan — the  wisdom  of  which  is  not  in  all 
respects  inscrutable — not  to  attempt  to  reveal  all  his  great 
leading  attributes  at  once  and  simultaneously,  but  rather  one 
by  one  and  progressively.  Under  this  general  plan,  the 
attribute  oi  poxcer — creative  and  administrative  power — came 
first  in  order.  With  power  was  naturally  associated  authority 
to  rule  and  the  right  to  enforce  obedience  by  incipient,  illus- 
trative retribution. Power,  clothing  itself  with  majesty, 

inspires  fear  and  awe.  We  shall  have  read  the  Old  Testa- 
ment but  superficially  if  we  fail  to  see  there  that  the  earliest 

type  of  piety  is  spoken  of  as  "the  fear  of  the  Lord" 

INIanifestations  of  (jod's  pity  and  compassion  were  of  later 
development.  The  great  depth  of  God's  love  for  lost  men 
could  not  be  fully  brought  out  by  any  thing  less  than  the 
incarnation  and  atoning  death  of  his  Son. 

Another  point,  perhaps  more  vital  than  any  other,  lies  in 
the  nature  of  a  sinning  moral  agent,  such  as  man.  If  God 
would  restore  and  save  him,  the  first  step  must  be  to  check 
his  sinful  course  by  impressing  him  with  fear.     "The  fear 


240  CONCLUSIOX. — PROGRESS    OF    DOCTRINE. 

of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom" — tlie  very  starting- 
point  from  which  to  advance  and  reach  it.  But  to  impress 
the  sinner  with  fear  demands  the  demonstration  of  God's 
power.  Hence,  by  the  very  laws  of  a  sinning  nature,  power 
must  be  the  first  divine  attribute  to  be  put  prominently  for- 
Avard.  If  love  were  revealed  before  power,  it  would  most 
surely  be  abused.  Practically  it  would  be  of  no  effect — a 
mere  waste  of  effort — availing  only  to  make  sinners  more 
bold  in  their  sin. — If  any  reader  questions  the  soundness  of 
this  philosophy,  let  him  at  least  refer  to  the  world's  great 
historic  facts.  Look  at  the  antediluvian  ages — the  first  ex- 
periment made  with  a  sinning  race.  Life  and  health  stretch- 
ing far  on  into  the  centuries ;  a  gracious  providence  dispensing 
almost  nothing  but  blessings,  with  only  the  minimum  of 
affliction  and  suffering ;  with  little  indeed  to  impress  fear  and 
reverent  awe  of  God — "vengeance  against  evil  works  not 
executed  speedily"  but  long,  long  delayed: — What,  after 
sixteen  centuries  of  experiment,  proved  to  be  the  result? 
One  small  family  embraced  all  the  piety  that  survived  among 
mankind !  The  masses  were  the  hardest,  most  reckless,  God- 
defiant  generation  that  earth  has  ever  known.  What  had 
long-suffering  love  achieved  toward  their  salvation  ?  Nothing. 
What  course  was  God  compelled  to  adopt  before  he  could 
really  begin  a  successful  endeavor  to  reclaim  fallen  man? 
Sweep  that  whole  generation  away  under  the  awful  flood ! 
Power,  clothing  itself  with  majesty  and  coupling  itself  with 
terrible  justice,  must  lay  the  foundation  for  "the  fear  of  the 
Lord."  Hence  in  his  wisdom,  God  made  it  thenceforward 
the  established  order  in  manifesting  his  attributes  before  a 
sinning  race,  to  reveal  power  and  justice,  before  love.  Thus 
it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  early  age  of  Job  the  main  vindi- 
cation of  God's  justice  is  made  to  rest  upon  his  power.  "Doth 
God  pervert  judgment?  or  doth  the  Almighty  j)ervert  jus- 
tice"? (18:  3).  "Yea,  surely  God  will  not  do  wickedly,  nor 
will  the  Almighty  pervert  judgment"  (34:  12).  That  is — 
one  who  is  Almighty  can  do  no  wickedness ;  can  perpetrate 
no  injustice.  Essentially  the  same  sentiment  appears  in  the 
w^ords  of  Abraham  (Gen.  18  :  25):  "  Shall  not  the  Judge  of 
all  the  earth  do  right"? — Was  it  accepted  as  the  first  intu- 
ition of  the  human  reason  that  the  Great  Supreme,  the 
Almighty  One,  must  of  necessity  be  just  and  righteous? 
This  seems  to  have  been  the  basis  on  which  those  men  rested 
tlieir  convictions  of  God's  justice. — Hence  it  was  that  when, 
at  the  close  of  this  long  debate,  the  Lord  met  Job  and  would 


CONCLUSION. — PKOGRESS   OF  DOCTRINE.  241 

impress  upon  him  a  sense  of  his  sin,  he  came  in  awful 
majesty ;  he  revealed  his  glorious  power.  He  neither  affirmed 
nor  sought  to  illustrate  his  justice,  but  left  it  to  be  inferred 
from  his  Almighty  power,  coupled  with  manifestations  of  his 
wisdom  in  the  works  of  his  hand.  Evidently  Job  did  make 
this  inference,  at  once,  spontaneously — that  a  God  of  such 
ineffiible  majesty  and  glory  must  he  'perfect  in  justice  and 
righteousness; — nay,  more,  must  be  good,  and  therefore  intrins- 
ically worthy  of  homage,  reverence,  obedience  and  trust. — 
Wisely,  therefore,  in  the  order  of  revealing  his  attributes  to 
men,  God  puts  power  before  love ;  law  before  Gospel : — so 
that  in  the  human  soul,  the  sense  of  guilt  and  fear  of  wrath 
precede  the  deep  humiliation  of  the  heart  befn^e  God  and 
the  uplifted  cry  for  mercy. 

One  qualifying  remark  is  due  before  we  pass  the  theme  in 
hand — the  progress  of  doctrine;  viz.,  that  the  special  points 
involved  in  the  address  of  the  Lord  himself  are  an  exception. 
From  those  points  there  never  can  be  any  progress  forward 
to  something  higher  and  better.  It  was  true  then  and  will 
be  true  always— (1)  That  the  ultimate  reasons  why  God 
sends  suffering  upon  good  men  lie  sometimes  utterly  beyond 
the  range  of  human  knowledge,  enwrapped  in  mystery,  at 
least  till  we  shall  reach  a  brighter  world  than  this : — and 
(2)  That,  therefore,  man's  supreme  duty  is  to  trust  God  to 
rule  the  world  wisely  and  well,  and  to  bow  in  perfect 
submission  to  every  dispensation  of  his  providence.  These 
are  ultimate  truths,  for  our  dark  world,  upon  Avhich  there 
can  be  no  advance  or  improvement.  In  the  revelations  of 
God's  character,  which  should  inspire  trust  aiid  submission, 
there  may  be  progress ; — there  has  been. 

The  reader  will  notice  that  in  the  main  I  have  spoken  of 
the  great  problem  of  the  sufferings  of  good  men  as  it  was 
held  and  discussed  by  the  htiman  speakers  in  this  book — not  as 
presented  by  the  Lord  himself. 

This  subject  admits  of  being  expanded  far  more  fully.  At 
present,  this  must  suffice.  Ho  much  seemed  necessary  as 
bearing  toward  a  proper  aj)preciation  of  the  book  of  Jol).  It 
is  not  easy  for  those  whose  eyes  have  been  so  long  accustomed 
and  adjusted  to  the  full  blaze  of  the  Glorious  Sun  of  right- 
eousness, truth  and  love,  to  put  themselves  back  into  the 
very  dim  twilight  of  Job's  early  morning,  and  realize  his 
deep  perplexities,  his  heart-agonies ;  the  inextricable  confu- 
sion into  which  the  sophistries  and  half-truths  thrust  upon 
him  by  his  friends  had  thrown  him.     The  story  is  richly 


242     CONCLUSION. — WHY   GOD    PERMITS  SUFFERING. 

suggestive  of  the  conflicts  to  which  suffering  saints  were  sub- 
jected in  those  times  of  so  great  comparative  darkness ;  also 
of  the  method  adopted  of  God  to  clear  away  by  slow  stages 
this  deep  darkness;  suggestive  too  of  our  exceeding  great 
occasion  for  gratitude  that,  before  and  during  the  Gospel 
age,  light  on  this  great  subject  was  shed  abroad  so  abundantly 
as  really  to  leave  us  nothing  more  to  desire. 

III.  Some  incidental  points  of  a  miscellaneous  sort  seem 
to  call  for  a  more  full  presentation  than  they  have  received 
in  the  Notes. 

1.  The  book  suggests  one  of  the  possible  reasons  for  God's 
permission  of  suifering  upon  those  who  are  not  only  really 
but  eminently  pious ;  viz. ,  a  test-conflict  between  God  and  Sa- 
tan. It  will  be  remembered  that  the  historical  introduction 
to  this  book  of  Job  puts  this  point  beyond  doubt.  The  rea- 
son assigned  there  for  permitting  such  fearful  calamities  to 
fall  upon  Job  was  that  God  called  Satan's  attention  to  his 
servant  Job  as  a  model  of  piety  ;  Avhereupon  Satan  said  that 
his  apparent  piety  was  only  a  refined  selfishness  ;  to  which 
the  Lord  replied — You  may  put  him  to  the  test  on  that  point 
if  you  like  ; — and  Satan  accepted  the  challenge.     Hence  came 

upon  Job  this  fearful  visitation  of  calamity. Here,  then, 

are  ultimate  reasons  for  the  permission  of  great  calamities 
upon  the  holiest  of  men,  which  reasons  lie  outside  the  range 
of  human  observation — such  as  no  deep  soundings  Avith  the 
line  of  our  human  philosophy  can  reach.  They  are  reasons 
which  we  are  by  no  means  wont  to  think  of.  They  refuse  to 
come  under  the  head  either  of  retribution  for  sin,  or  directly 
of  discipline  and  correction,  bearing  toward  moral  culture — 
although  it  may  be  presumed  that,  in  a  case  of  this  sort,  the 
Lord  would  make  the  trial  subserve  in  the  end  very  useful 
results  for  his  afflicted,  suffering  child. 

In  the  light  of  this  case  it  may  be  suggested  that  reasons 
somewhat  analogous  may  often  be  at  the  bottom  of  God's 
permission  of  great  suffering  upon  the  best  of  men.  If  the. 
purpose  be  not  so  directly  as  here  to  confound  Satan,  it  may 
be  to  furnish  instructive  illustrations  of  the  riches  of  grace. 
The  sufferer  may  be  thrown  into  the  furnace,  not  so  much  to 
make  him  more  pure,  as  to  show  what  grace  has  wrought, 
and  what  it  can  and  may  achieve  in  human  souls  toward  sweet 
submission  and  j)atient  endurance  under  the  afflictive  hand  of 
God.  To  such  manifestations  of  what  grace  can  do,  God  is 
often  pleased  to  appeal  as  a  witnessing  testimony  for  the  en- 
couragement of  others  under  similar  trials.     "  Ye  have  heard 


CONCLUSION. — WHY  GOD   PERMITS  SUFFERING.    243 

of  the  patience  of  Job  (said  James,  5  :  11),  and  have  seen  the 
end  of  the  Lord,  that  the  Lord  is  very  pitiful  and  of  tender 
mercy."  If  Job  could  have  foreseen  what  use  the  Lord  pur- 
posed to  make  and  actually  did  make  of  his  case,  it  would 
have  relieved  some  of  his  most  painful  perplexities;  would 
have  satisfied  him  that  God  knew  Avhat  himself  was  doing 
and  had  wise  and  good  ends  to  secure,  in  ways  to  Job  most 
inscrutable.  The  very  daikncss  and  inscrutaliility  (we  may 
remember)  constituted  in  large  measure  the  fearful,  almost 
unendurable,  severity  of  the  trial.  It  was  mainly  these  ele- 
ments in  it  Avhich  gave  it  so  great  moral  value  as  a  discipline 
to  Job  and  an  example  to  all  suffering  saints  from  that  day 

to  the  end  of  time. But  the  point  I  specially  make  now 

is  that  the  case  of  Job  as  set  forth  in  the  historic  introduc- 
tion, representing  it  as  a  test-issue  between  God  and  8atan, 
enlarges  the  field  within  which  God's  ultimate  reasons  may 
lie  for  permitting  sore  afflictions  upon  the  best  of  Christians. 
It  suffices  also  to  suggest  that  inasmuch  as  here  is  one  reason 
which  certainly  lies  outside  the  range  of  human  observation, 
there  may  be  other  reasons  equally  beyond  our  recognition, 
yet  in  the  eye  of  God,  supremely  worthy  and  wise.  From 
this  case  let  us  learn  the  lesson  of  sweet  confidence  in  God 
that  he  doeth  all  things  well  and  never  permits  any  thing, 
how^ever  mysterious  or  dark  to  us,  without  reasons  that  will 
bear  the  light  when  he  lets  the  light  in.  In  brief,  the  moral 
lesson  is — commit  all  these  dark  problems  to  God  and  bow 
to  his  will  in  patient  suffering  without  k)ioiinng  the  reason  wJty 
the  sxiffer'inrj  comes. 

In  this  connection,  the  word  "  sovereignty  "  has  been  often 
apphed  to  God  as  w^ell  representing  that  great  element  in  his 
character  and  government  before  which  suffering  human 
souls  should  bow  in  reverence  and  submission.  To  some  this 
word  has  been  sweetly  refreshing;  to  others,  painfully  be- 
wildering— the  difference  being  due  somewhat  to  a  radical 
difference  of  heart  as  to  deep  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and 
love  of  God,  and  in  part  also  to  the  different  senses  given  to 
the  word  itself.  The  word  is  sometimes  understood  to  imply 
that  God's  purposes  are  arbitrary,  resting  on  no  reasons 
whatever  save  the  dictates  of  his  infinite  will.  This  notion 
is  both  false  and  mischievous,  utterly  misrepresenting  the 
Most  High.  Far  better  is  the  view  put  tersely  by  Dr.  Pay- 
son — "  The  will  of  God  is  infaite  reason."  The  special  reasons 
for  his  divine  purposes  may  be — often  will  be — far  too  deep 
for  our  short  line  to  fathom — may  and  often  will  lie  where 


244  CONCLUSION. — AVHY    COD    PERMITS   SUFFERING. 

no  human  eye  hag  penetrated  ;  but  tliey  are  none  the  less 
reasons ;  sound,  strong,  valid  reasons  for  the  decision  which 
rests  upon  them.  Reasons  which  are  above  and  beyond  the 
narrow  horizon  of  our  view  are  not  on  this  account  the  less 

weighty  and  worthy. It  ought  to  be  vei'y  clear   to  our; 

thought  that  God  must  know  more  than  man  and  be  better 
able  to  rule  the  universe  wisely  and  well.  Let  us  then  not 
allow  ourselves  to  be  tempted  and  pained  under  the  notion 
that  God's  plans  and  ways  are  shaped  without  reason,  under 
the  impulses  of  a  blind  sovereignty.  Rather  let  us  believe, 
to  our  inexpressible  peace  and  joy  that  all  his  ways  rest  on 
infinite  reason.  Let  the  word  "Sovereignty,"  if  we  think 
best  to  use  it  of  God,  signify  to  us,  not  that  He  w^orks  with- 
out reason  but  that  his  reasons  grasp  the  universe,  sweep 
eternity,  and  must  evolve  in  the  end  the  highest,  noblest,  most 
glorious  results  possible  to  infinite  wisdom,  love  and  power. 

Applied  to  the  special  case  now  in  hand,  the  sufferings  that 
God  permitted  Satan  to  inflict  on  Job  were  indeed  to  him 
utterly  mysterious  and  painfully  pei'plexing.  They  seemed 
to  be  in  conflict  with  both  goodness  and  justice.  It  was  ap- 
parently very  clear  to  Job's  thought  that  these  sufferings 
were  not  only  without  reason  but  against  reason.  So  it 
appeared,  as  seen  and  judged  of  upon  the  grounds  that  lay 
within  the  horizon  of  his  limited  vision.  But  there  were  great 
reasons  lying  entirely  beyond  this  narrow  horizon.  Job  tvas 
"a  spectacle  to  angels."  He  did  not  know  it,  but  it  was  none 
the  less  true.  Angels  unfallen  and  angels  fallen  also,  were 
witnesses  to  his  godly  life  and  to  this  terrible  strain  brought 
upon  his  tempted,  tried  spirit  by  the  shock  of  those  appalHng 
calamities.  They  saw  also  the  far  more  terrible  perplexities 
into  which  his  stricken  soul  was  thrown  by  the  thought  that 
God  had  turned  against  him  and  become  his  enemy  for  rea- 
sons he  could  not  begin  to  fathom.  In  the  end  they  saw,  to  the 
joy  of  all  the  holy  and  to  the  confusion  and  shame  of  Satan 
and  all  his  sympathizers,  that  God  does  "  feed  the  strength 
of  every  saint ;"  that  his  hand  underneath  is  mighty  to  save  ; 
and  that  the  way  up  from  the  depth  of  earthly  suffering  is 
into  peace  and  rest  and  blessedness. 

It  is  something  to  have  learned,  as  we  have  in  this  book  of 
Job,  the  practical  bearings  of  the  great  fact  that  "  we  are  a 
spectacle  to  angels,"  albeit  they  are  not  as  yet  in  any  such 
sense  a  spectacle  to  us.  It  should  be  a  quickening  inspira- 
tion to  us  in  breasting  the  surges  of  life  here,  that  eyes  far 
beyond  the  sky  are  looking  down  upon  us  ;  that  "  we  are 


CONCLUSION. — ON  THE  MISTAKE  OF  JOB's  FRIENDS.  245 

compiissed  about  with  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses  ;"  and  tliat 
our  struggling  and  conquering  faith  in  God  is  accepted  by 
those  witnessing  spirits  as  a  glorious  testimony  to  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  human  souls  toward  holiness, 
and  uplifting  the  tempted  and  faltering  into  the  triumph 
of  victory. 

2.  A  second  incidental  lesson  to  be  learned  from  the  story 
and  the  discussions  in  this  book  is  the  immense  mischief  which 
comes  of  assuming  that  the  sufferings  of  professedly  good 
men  are  wholly  and  only  retributive — the  real  punishment  of 
their  sins ;  and  are  therefore  a  true  index  and  measure  of 
their  guilt.  This,  we  have  seen,  was  the  doctrine  of  Job's 
three  friends.  We  have  seen  how  it  crushed  out  their  confi- 
dence in  his  piety  ;  shut  them  up  to  the  conclusion  that  so  far 
from  being  a  suffering  child  of  God,  he  was  one  of  the  most 
guilty  of  all  sinners ;  and  thus,  by  natural  consequence,  dried 
up  not  only  their  religious  but  their  human  sympatliies,  so 
that  they  seem  to  have  looked  without  the  least  fellow-feeling 
or  pity  upon  his  terrible  sufferings  and  the  utter  wreck  of 
all  his  prosperity.  Who  can  read  this  record  of  heartless 
reproaches  and  cruel  insinuations  and  even  the  rnost  slander- 
ous and  groundless  charges  of  overt  sin,  without  being  shocked 
at  man's  inhumanity  to  man  !  Yet  these  three  men  Avere, 
presumably,  excellent  and  estimable  men  as  they  stood  in 
human  view  before  these  developments.  This  strange  inhu- 
manity was  the  legitimate  fruit  of  their  bad  theology.  It 
came  as  a  logical  deduction  from  their  false  premises.  They 
were  sure  they  had  the  secret  of  Job's  dreadful  sufferings, 
and  therefore  deemed  it  their  duty  to  rebuke  him  with  this 
cruel  sharpness  as  the  only  hopeful  means  in  their  view  of 
bringing  him  to  repentance.  They  felt  bound  to  tell  him, 
and  even  to  prove  it  to  him,  that  God  was  turned  against 
him — that  God  was  putting  the  fiery  finger  of  his  judgments 
upon  Job's  great  sins.  On  their  theology  they  assumed  that 
they  were  doing  God  service  in  their  co-operation  Avith  his 
endeavor  to  save  Job's  soul  by  pressing  his  conscience  into 
a  sense  of  his  great  sin. 

When  in  the  issue  God  expressed  his  strong  disapproba- 
tion of  what  they  had  spoken  (42  :  7,  8),  it  is  left  perhaps  in 
some  doubt  whether  he  more  condemned  their  bad  theology, 
or  the  bad  spirit  which  it  begat  in  their  heart  toward  Job. 
No  doubt  both  Avere  offensive  in  his  sight.  Their  theology, 
God  could  in  no  wise  indorse;  their  bad  spirit  (I  think  we 
must  assume)  was  yet  more  abhorrent  to  the  pitying  love  of 


246  CONCLUSION. — job's  faith  in  his  redeemer. 

the  Great  Father.  AVe  shall  readily  recall  the  fact  that  when 
Jesus  came  among  men  in  the  flesh,  he  found  this  same  doc- 
trine somewhat  current ;  met  it  on  several  occasions,  yet 
never  without  pronouncing  against  it  his  unqualified  condem- 
nation. To  those  who  told  him  of  "  certain  Galileans  whose 
blood  Pilate  had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices  "  (Luke  13 : 
1-5),  he  answered — "  Suppose  ye  that  these  Galileans  were 
sinners  above  all  the  Galileans,  because  they  suffered  such 
things?  I  tell  you  nay."  "Or  those  eighteen  upon  whom 
the  tower  in  Siloam  fell  and  slew  them,  think  ye  that  they 
w^ere  sinners  above  all  men  that  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  ?  I  tell  you 
nay." — To  the  question  put  by  his  disciples,  upon  the  case 
of  congenital  blindness;  "Master,  who  did  sin,  this  man  or 
his  parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  "  ?  He  answered.  Neither. 
"  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned  nor  his  parents  " — so  that  this 
blindness  can  be  reckoned  as  a  judgment  upon  them  for  the 
sin  (John  9  :  2,  3).  Thus  without  the  least  qualification  did 
Jesus  reprobate  this  doctrine  that  special  calamities  befall 
men  in  this  world  in  punishment  for  special  sins. 

3.  I  call  up  for  further  consideration  a  point  suggested  in 
my  discussion  of  the  remarkable  passage  (19:  25-27);  "I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth" — viz.,  the  inexpressible  value 
toward  the  religious  life,  of  the  early  promise  of  a  Messiah.  If  I 
am  right  in  the  opinion  that  it  was  the  rays  (though  few 
and  dim)  of  this  glorious  promise  that  fell  on  the  otherwise 
dark,  desolate,  disconsolate  soul  of  this  great  sufferer,  and 
inspired  this  outburst  of  triumphant  faith,  forming  the  grand 
crisis  of  his  inward  struggle,  then  we  have  here  a  magnificent 
illustration  of  the  preciousness  of  that  primal  promise.  Nor 
should  the  fsict  of  its  supreme  importance  toward  faith  in 
God  surprise  us.  For  it  revealed  far  more  of  God's  love  and 
])ity  for  lost  men  than  could  have  been  known  otherwise. 
Wiiat  the  actual  coming  of  Jesus  in  human  flesh  was  to  his 
generation  and  has  been  to  all  generations  since,  as  a  mani- 
festation of  God's  love,  surpassing  all  others  immeasurablj'-, 
it  was  in  embryo  to  the  saints  of  all  })receding  ages,  through 
the  power  of  this  foregoing  promise.  When  we  search  the 
earlier  records  of  the  Old  Testament  for  Messianic  prophecies 
and  find  them  so  very  few  in  number,  and  even  these  few 
appearing  to  our  eye  somewhat  indefinite,  not  to  say  tame, 
compared  with  what  the  New  Testament  reveals,  it  may  seem 
to  us  that  such  promises  and  predictions  can  not  have  amounted 
to  much.  It  strikes  us  perhaps  that  our  notions  of  the  Mes- 
siah would  be  very  meager  and  by  no  means  inspiring  to  faith 


CONCLUSION. — job's  FAITH  IN  HIS  REDEEMER.    247 

and  hope  if  we  had  nothing  more.  But  this  reasoning  badly 
under-rates  the  power  and  preciousness  of  even  those  few 
and  dim  rays  of  foi'egoing  gospel  promise.  It  was  every  thing 
to  the  struggling  foith  of  those  early  ages  to  have  even  so 
much  liglit  from  heaven.  It  bore  unmistakable  testimony 
that  our  race  were  not  hopelessly  doomed  like  those  angels 
Avho  "  kept  not  their  first  estate."  It  witnessed  that  God  had 
great,  deep  thoughts  of  mercy  for  our  fallen  Avorld.  It 
whispered  of  love  and  pity  and  of  promised  help  upward 
toward  acce^^tance  before  God  and  toward  penitence,  purity 

and  salvation. As  to  the  actual  impression  made  by  these 

promises  upon  the  saints  of  those  early  ages,  Ave  shall  greatly 
under-estimate  it  if  we  infer  from  the  little  they  say  of  their 
experience  under  this  revealed  truth,  that  it  scarcely  raised 
a  ripple  of  feeling,  or  helped  them  appreciably  toward  a 
steadfast  fliith.  True,  their  utterances  of  personal  experience 
are  less  full  than  perhaps  we  might  expect ;  but  when  we  turn 
to  the  New  Testament  allusions  to  the  subject,  we  are  struck 
with  the  estimate  given  us  there.  Hear  what  Jesus  himself 
said  of  Abraham :  "He  rejoiced  to  see  my  day"  (hailing  it 
as  one  hails  a  distant  friend  with  exultant  shouts  of  joy) ; 
"  and  he  saw  it  and  was  glad"  (John  8 :  56).  Or  what  he 
said  not  of  Abraham  alone,  but  of  very  many  others  : — "I 
say  unto  you  that  many  prophets  and  kings  have  desired  to  see 
the  things  which  ye  see,  but  have  not  seen  them  "  (Luke  10 : 
26).  Or  let  one  l-ead  the  testimony  from  Heb.  11,  of  the 
power  of  faith  in  those  ancient  moral  heroes,  and  not  least, 
of  Moses  who  "  esteemed  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches 

than  all  the  treasures  of  Egypt"— (Heb.  11:  24-26). 

These  allusions  show  that  those  early  promises  of  the  Messiah 
to  come  were  far  from  being  tame,  uninspiring  and  ineffective. 
The  reference  to  Moses  proves  that  he  knew  these  promises 
and  felt  their  power  before  he  fled  from  the  court  of  Pharaoh 
into  Arabia,  and  consequently  before  he  wrote  the  book  of 
Job — supposing  him  to  have  been  its  author. 

To  Job,  if  I  inter2:)ret  his  words  truly,  these  promises  of  a 
Messiah  were  as  life  from  the  dead.  They  spake  to  him  of 
God,  as  nothing  else  had  done — as  nothing  else  could  do.  In 
the  hour  when  flesh  and  heart  failed  him  ;  when  not  a  human 
friend  stood  ])y  him,  when  in  fact  every  one  of  them  rose  up 
against  him  and  had  almost  swallowed  him  up ;  then  this 
great  promise  spake  to  him  of  God  and  lifted  his  soul  from  a 
point,  scarcely  above  despair,  into  the  calmness  of  trust,  and 
the  exultation  of  victory. 


NEW  TEANSLATION.* 


CHAPTER    I. 

1.  There  was  a  man  in  the  Land  of  Uz  whose  name  was 
Job ;  this  man  was  perfect  and  upright,  one  Avho  feared  God 
and  shunned  eviL  2.  There  were  born  to  him  seven  sons  and 
three  daughters.  3.  His  possessions  were  seven  thousand 
sheep;  three  thousand  camels;  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen; 
five  hundred  she-asses ;  and  a  very  large  family  of  servants ; 
so  that  this  man  was  wealthy  above  all  the  children  of  the 
East.  4.  And  his  sons  went  and  made  a  feast  in  each  one's 
house  on  his  birthday ;  and  they  sent  and  invited  their 
three  sisters  to  eat  and  drink  with  them.  5.  Now  when 
they  had  gone  round  these  birthday  festivals,  Job  sent  and 
sanctified  them,  and  rose  early  in  the  morning  and  offered 
sacrifices  according  to  their  number;  for  Job  said — Perhaps 
my  sons  have  sinned  and  bid  farewell  to  God  in  their  hearts. 
So  did  Job  from  year  to  year. 

6.  Now  there  was  a  day  when  the  sons  of  God  came  to 

■•••  The  common  doctrine  in  respect  to  translations  from  the  Hebrew 
demands  that  eacli  Hebrew  word  or  plirase  should  be  represented  by 
its  nearest  equivalent  in  English.  This  rule  must  sometimes  be  re- 
laxed to  meet  special  idioms  of  the  Hebrew  tongue  which  have  no 
precise  equivalents  in  our  own.  A  yet  more  important  deviation 
from  the  rule  of  a  "word  for  word"  translation  has  seemed  to  me 
demanded  in  this  Book  of  Job  for  the  sake  of  the  logical  relations 
of  the  several  clauses  to  each  other  and  to  the  main  argument. 
The  speeches  which  make  up  the  body  of  this  book  are  in  purpose 
and  aim  argumentative,  yet  often  their  logical  relations  are  liable  to 
be  overlooked.  For  the  purpose  of  making  them  clear  I  have 
allowed  myself  to  introduce  in  brackets  some  connecting  and  ex- 
planatory words  or  clauses. 

(249) 


250  CHAPTER   I. 

present  themselves  before  the  Lord,  and  Satan  also  came  in 
the  midst  of  them.  7.  And  the  Lord  said  to  Satan,  Whence 
comest  thou?  Satan  answered  the  Lord  and  said,  From 
roaming  over   the    earth   and    from  walking  about    in    it. 

8.  And  the  Lord  said  to  Satan,  Hast  thou  set  thy  thought 
on  my  servant  Job,  for  there  is  none  like  him  in  the  earth, 
a  man  perfect  and  upright,  fearing  God  and  shunning  evil  ? 

9.  Then  Satan  answered  the  Lord  and  said.  Does  Job  fear 
(xod  for  nought?  10.  Hast  thou  not  made  a  hedge  about  him 
and  his  house  and  all  that  he  has?  The  work  of  his  hands  thou 
hast  blessed,  and  his  cattle  are  spread  abroad  over  the  land. 
IL  But  put  forth  now  thy  hand  and  touch  all  his  possessions, 
and  he  ^vill  surely  say  thee  farewell  to  thy  face.  12.  And 
the  Lord  said  to  Satan,  Behold  all  he  has  is  in  thy  power, 
only  upon  himself  lay  not  thy  hand.  Then  Satan  went  forth 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

13.  And  there  was  a  day  when  his  sons  and  daughters 
were  eating  and  drinking  wine  in  their  eldest  brother's  house; 
14.  And  a  messenger  came  to  Job  and  said;  The  cattle 
were  plowing  and  the  asses  feeding  by  their  side ;  15.  And 
the  Sabeans  fell  upon  them  and  took  them  away,  and  the 
young  men  have  they  smitten  with  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
and  I  only  have  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee.  16.  While  he 
was  yet  speaking,  another  came  and  said:  The  fire  of  God 
[lightning]  fell  from  heaven  and  burned  the  sheep  and  the 
young  men  and  consumed  them,  and  I  only  have  escaped 
alone  to  tell  thee.  17.  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  another 
came  and  said,  The  Chaldeans  formed  three  bands  and 
rushed  upon  the  camels  and  took  them,  and  smote  the  young 
men  Avith  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  1  only  have  escaped 
alone  to  tell  thee.  18.  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  another 
came  and  said.  Thy  sons  and  daughters  were  eating  and 
drinking  wine  in  their  eldest  brother's  house ;  19.  And  lo, 
a  great  w^nd-storm  swept  across  the  desert  and  smote  the 
four  corners  of  the  house,  and  it  fell  uj^on  the  young  men, 
and  they  are  dead,  and  I  only  have  escaped  alone  to  tell 
thee. 

20.  Then  Job  arose  and  rent  his  mantle  and  shaved  his 
head  and  fell  to  the  ground  and  worshiped ;  21.  And  said. 
Naked  came  I  forth  from  the  womb  of  my  mother,  and 
naked  shall  I  return  to  my  mother  earth.  The  Lord  gave 
and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
Lord !  22.  In  all  this  Job  did  not  sin  nor  imj)ute  folly  to 
God. 


CIIArTER  II.  251 


CHAPTER    II. 

I.  Again  there  was  a  day  ■vvlieii  the  sons  of  God  came  to 
present  themselves  before  the  Lord,  and  Satan  also  came 
in  the  midst  of  them  to  present  himself  before  the  Lord. 
2.  The  Lord  said  to  Satan,  Whence  comest  thou?  Satan 
answered  and  said,  From  roaming  over  the  earth  and  from 
walking  about  in  it.  3.  And  the  Lord  said  to  Satan, 
Hast  thou  set  thy  thought  on  my  servant  Job,  for  there  is 
none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  man  perfect  and  upright,  fear- 
ing God  and  shunning  evil?  And  he  holds  fast  his  integrity 
still,  though  thou  hast  moved  me  against  him  to  destroy  him 
without  cause.  4.  Satan  answered  the  Lord  and  said,  Skin 
for  skin;    even   all  a  man   has   he  Avill   give  for  his   life. 

5.  But  put  forth  now  thy  hand  and  touch  his  bone  and  his 
flesh  and  he  will  certainly  say  thee  farewell   to  thy  face. 

6.  And  the  Lord  said  to  Satan,  Behold,  he  is  in  thy  hand, 
only  spare  his  life. 

7.  Then  Satan  went  forth  from  the  j^i'esence  of  the  Lord 
and  smote  Job  with  burning  ulcers  [the  l)lack  leprosy]  from 
the  sole  of  his  foot  to  his  crown.  8.  And  Job  took  a 
potsherd  to  scrape  himself  with  it,  and  sat  down  in  the 
ashes.  9.  Then  said  his  wife  to  him,  Dost  thou  hold  fast 
thine  integrity  still?  Bid  farewell  to  God  and  die!  10.  But 
Job  said  to  her.  Thou  speakest  as  one  of  the  foolish  women. 
What!  shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and 
shall  we  not  receive  evil  ?  In  all  this  Job  simied  not  with 
his  lips. 

II.  When  Job's  three  friends  heard  of  all  this  affliction 
that  had  befallen  him,  they  came  each  from  his  home, 
EHphaz  the  Temanite,  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  Zophar  the 
Naamathite ;  for  they  met  by  appointment  to  come  to  mourn 
with  him  and  to  comfort  him.  12.  When  they  saw  him  from 
a  distance  and  did  not  recognize  him,  they  lifted  their  voices 
in  loud  weeping,  and  rent  each  one  his  mantle  and  sprinkled 
dust  on  his  head  toward  heaven.  13.  Then  they  sat  down 
with  him  upon  the  ground  seven  days  and  seven  nights,  and 
not  one  spake  a  word  to  him,  for  they  saw  that  his  grief  was 
very  great. 


252  CHAPTER   III. 


CHAPTER   III. 


1.  After  this  Job  opened  his  mouth  and  cursed  his  birth- 
day.    2.  He  spake  and  said : 

3.  Let  the  day  perish  in  which  I  was  born,  and  the  night 
Avhich  said,  A  man-child  is  brought  forth.  4.  That  day — 
let  it  be  darkness ;  let  not  God  from  above  inquire  for  it;  let 
no  light  shine  forth  upon  it:  5.  Let  darkness  and  death- 
shade  claim  it  as  their  own;  let  clouds  dwell  upon  it  and 
eclipses  of  day  strike  terror  through  it.  6.  That  night — let 
darkness  seize  it ;  let  it  not  rejoice  among  the  days  of  the 
year,  nor  come  into  the  number  of  its  months.  7.  Lo,  let 
that  night  be  sterile,  and  no  voice  of  joy  break  forth  therein. 
•8.  Let  those  Avho  curse  days  curse  this  day — who  have  skill 
to  excite  to  frenzy  the  crooked  serpent.  9.  Let  the  stars  of 
its  twilight  be  dark  ;  let  it  wait  for  light,  and  there  be  none  ; 
let  it  never  look  forth  through  the  eye-lids  of  the  dawn,  10. 
Because  it  did  not  close  the  doors  of  my  mother's  womb,  and 
so  hide  sorrow  from  my  eyes.  IL  Why  did  I  not  die  from 
the  womb?  Why  did  I  not  expire  at  my  very  birth?  12. 
Why  was  a  mother's  lap  provided  to  receive  me,  and  her 
breasts  that  I  might  suck?  13.  For  then  [in  that  case]  I 
should  have  lain  still  and  been  quiet;  I  should  have  slept, 
and  have  been  at  rest;  14.  With  kings  and  counsellors  of 
the  earth  who  build  for  themselves  vast  ruins ;  15.  Or  with 
princes  who  have  gold,  who  fill  their  houses  with  silver;  16. 
Or  as  one  still-born  I  had  not  been,  as  still-born  infants  that 
never  see  light.  17.  There  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling 
and  there  the  weary  are  at  rest.  18.  Captives  [slaves]  are 
all  quiet  there;  they  hear  no  voice  of  the  driver.  19.  The 
small  and  the  great  are  there ;  the  slave  is  free  from  his 
master. 

20.  Why  is  light  given  to  the  eyes  of  the  wretched  and  life 
to  the  bitter  of  soul;  21.  Who  long  for  death  and  it  is 
not — who  dig  for  it  more  than  for  hid  treasures ;  22.  Who 
rejoice  even  to  exultation  and  are  glad  when  they  find  the 
grave?  23.  To  the  man  whose  life-path  is  darkened  and 
whom  God  hedges  in  round  about?  24.  For  my  sighings 
come  before  my  bread  and  my  groans  are  poured  out  as  the 
waters.  25.  For  what  I  feared  has  come  upon  me,  and  what 
I  dreaded  has  befallen  me.  26.  I  was  not  in  peace  nor  in 
quiet;  I  had  no  rest:  yet  then  trouble  came. 


CHAPTEE  IV.  253 

CHAPTER    IV. 

First  S2)eech  of  Elipliaz. 

1.  Then  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  took  up  the  case  and  said; 
2.  Should  one  try  a  word  with  thee,  wilt  thou  take  it  ill  ? 
But  restrain  his  words,  who  can  ?  3.  Behold,  thou  hast  in- 
structed many,  and  weak  hands  thou  hast  strengthened.  4. 
The  tottering  one  thy  words  have  upheld,  and  trembling 
knees  thou  hast  made  strong.  5.  But  now  it  has  come  upon 
thyself  and  thou  hast  fainted ;  it  touches  thee  and  thou  art 
confounded.  6.  Has  not  thy  piety  been  thy  confidence,  and 
the  integrity  of  thy  ways  been  thy  ground  of  hope  ?  7. 
But  I  pray  thee,  recall  to  mind.  What  innocent  man  has 
ever  perished?  and  where  have  the  upright  been  cut  ofi'?  8. 
Even  as  I  have  seen ;  They  that  plow  iniquity  and  soav 
misery  are  sure  to  reap  it.  9.  Before  the  breath  of  God  they 
perish  ;  before  the  blast  of  his  indignation  they  are  consumed. 
10.  The  roaring  of  the  lion,  the  voice  of  the  roaring  one,  the 
teeth  of  the  young  lion,  are  broken.  11.  The  strong  lion 
perisheth  for  lack  of  food ;  the  whelps  of  the  lioness  are 
scattered  abroad. 

12.  A  Avord  stole  silently  upon  me ;  mine  ear  caught  a 
whisper  of  it;  13.  In  thoughts  from  visions  of  the  night 
when  deep  sleep  falls  upon  men,  14.  Fear  seized  me  and 
trembling,  and  it  shook  all  my  bones.  15.  A  spirit  passed 
before  me ;  the  hair  of  my  body  stood  erect.  16.  There  the 
spirit  stood ;  I  could  not  trace  its  form ;  an  image  was  before 
me,  and  silence ; — then  I  heard  a  voice  :  17.  Shall  man  be 
more  just  than  God?  Shall  even  a  mighty  man  be  more 
pure  than  his  Maker?  18.  Behold,  he  does  not  confide  in 
his  saints ;  and  he  imputes  to  his  angels  folly :  19.  How  much 
more  to  those  Avho  dwell  in  houses  of  clay  whose  foundation 
is  in  the  dust,  who  are  crushed  like  the  moth !  20.  From  a 
morning  to  an  evening  they  are  crushed  utterly ;  they  perish 
forever  and  no  one  regards  it.  21.  Does  not  their  glory  pass 
away  [as  the  moving  caravans  of  the  desert]  ?  They  die, 
and  there  is  no  wisdopi ! 


254  CHAPTER  V. 

CHAPTER    V. 

UlipJiaz  concludes  his  speech. 

1.  Call  now,  if  there  be  one  to  answer  thee;  To  whom  of 
the  holy  wilt  thou  turn  ?  2.  For  wrath  kills  the  fools,  and 
envy  slays  the  silly.  3.  I  have  seen  the  fool  taking  root; 
but  suddenly  I  pronounced  his  dwelling-place  accursed.  4. 
His  sons  were  far  from  being  prosperous ;  they  were  crushed 
in  the  gate  [before  the  courts]  and  there  was  none  to  deliver: 
5.  Whose  harvests  the  famislied  devour;  despite  the  thorn- 
hedge,  he  will  seize  it ;  the  snare  opens  wide  its  jaws  for  his 
wealth.  6.  For  calamity  comes  not  out  of  the  dust,  nor 
does  trouble  spring  up  fi-om  the  ground ;  7.  For  man  is  born 
to  trouble,  and  sparks  mount  upward  flying. 

8.  But  for  myself,  I  would  seek  the  Almighty ;  I  would 
commit  my  cause  to  God  ;  9,  Who  does  things  great  and 
unsearchable — even  marvellous  things  without  number;  10. 
Who  gives  rain  upon  the  earth  and  sends  waters  upon  the 
fields  ;  11.  So  that  he  sets  the  humble  on  high  and  mourn- 
ers are  exalted  to  safety.  12.  He  frustrates  the  schemes  of 
the  crafty,  and  their  hands  can  not  work  out  their  thought. 
13.  He  takes  captive  the  wise  in  their  cunning,  and  the 
counsels  of  the  perverse  are  borne  headlong.  14.  Even  in 
broad  day  they  plunge  into  darkness,  and  grope  at  noon  as  if 
it  were  night.  15.  But  He  [God]  saves  the  victim  of  wrong 
from  their  jaws — the  poor  from  the  hand  of  the  strong.  16. 
So  there  is  hope  for  the  poor,  and  iniquity  shuts  her  mouth. 

17.  Behold,  how  blessed  is  the  man  whom  God  correcteth! 
Therefore,  despise  not  the  chastening  of  the  Almighty:  18. 
For  he  gives  pain  and  then  healing;  he  smites  and  then  his 
hand  restores.  19.  In  six  troubles  he  will  deliver  thee  ;  in 
seven,  no  evil  shall  touch  thee.  20.  In  fiimine  he  redeems 
thee  from  death  ;  in  war,  from  the  thrust  of  the  sword,  21. 
Thou  shalt  be  hid  from  the  scourge  of  the  tongue,  nor  shalt 
thou  fear  when  destruction  comes.  22.  At  destruction  and 
famine  thou  shalt  laugh,  and  from  the  beasts  of  the  field,  fear 
thou  nothing.  23.  For  with  tlie  stones  of  the  field  thou  art 
in  covenant,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  have  peace  with 
thee.  24.  Thou  shalt  know  that  thy  tent  is  safe  ;  thou  shalt 
visit  thy  sheep-fold  and  shalt  miss  none  [of  them].  25.  Thou 
shalt  know  that  thy  children  are  many — thy  offspring  as  the 
grass  of  the  earth.     26.  Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in 


CHAPTEIl  VI. 


ripenesf,  as  the  full  sheaf  is  gathered  iu  its  time.  27.  Lo, 
all  this  have  we  searched  out;  it  is  even  so ;  hear  and  learn 
it  for  thyself. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Job  replies. 

1.  Then  Job  answered  and  said ;  2.  Oh  that  my  griefs 
were  weighed  thoroughly,  and  my  afflictions  put  on  the  scales 
together!  3.  For  now  they  would  be  heavier  than  the  sand 
of  the  sea.  For  this  reason  it  is  that  my  words  have  been 
rash.  4.  For  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty  are  deep  within 
me,  the  poison  of  which  is  drinking  up  my  spirit:  the  terrors 
of  God  array  themselves  against  me.  5.  Does  the  wild  ass 
bray  over  his  green  grass?  or  does  the  ox  low  over  his  fodder? 
6.  Shall  tasteless  food  be  eaten  without  salt  ?  And  is  there 
any  relish  in  purslain  slime?  7.  So  my  soul  refuses  to  touch! 
They  are  as  food  that  I  loathe. 

8.  Oh  that  the  thing  I  ask  might  come ;  that  God  would 
grant  to  me  my  longing  desire  !  9.  That  God  would  consent 
and  break  me  in  pieces — that  he  would  let  go  his  hand  and 
cut  me  oft'!  10.  Then  should  it  be  my  comfort,  and  under 
pangs  that  spare  not  I  would  exult  that  I  have  not  denied 
the  words  of  the  Holy  One.  11.  What  is  my  strength  that 
I  should  yet  hope?  and  what  is  my  limit  of  endurance  that  I 
should  prolong  my  life?  12.  Is  my  strength  the  strength 
of  stones,  and  is  my  flesh  brass?  13.  Is  not  help  in  myself 
utterly  wanting  and  all  hope  of  recovery  driven  away  from 
me?  14.  A  broken-down  man  should  have  pity  from  his 
friend  ; — else  he  forsakes  the  fear  of  the  Almighty  [real 
piety.] 

15.  My  brethren  have  disappointed  me  like  a  brook — as 
the  valley-torrents  that  soon  flow  off";  16.  Which  are  turbid 
from  the  melting  ice,  in  which  the  snow  hides  itself:  17. 
But  when  then  they  have  poured  themselves  off"  in  floods, 
they  disappear ;  under  the  summer's  heat  they  are  dried  up 
from  their  place.  18.  The  caravans  turn  aside  into  those  old 
water-courses ;  they  follow  them  up  to  find  them  only  a  deso- 
lation— and  so  they  perish  !  19.  The  caravans  of  Tema  had 
looked ;   the  traveling  companies  of  Sheba  had  hoped  for 


256  CHAPTER   VJI. 

water  there.  20.  They  were  put  to  shame  because  they  had 
trusted  ;  they  came  to  it  [where  water  should  have  been]  and 
were  confounded.  21.  So  ye  too  have  now  become  nothing ; 
ye  have  seen  a  terror  and  are  panic-smitten. 

22.  Is  it  that  I  have  said — Make  me  a  gift?  bestow  of 
your  wealth  for  my  sake  ?  23.  Or,  deliver  me  from  an  ene- 
my's hand  ?  or  redeem  me  from  the  hand  of  the  mighty  ?  24. 
Teach  me,  and  I  will  be  silent ;  make  me  understand  in  what 
I  have  erred.  25.  How  forcible  are  right  words !  But  what 
does  your  upbraiding  prove?  26.  Do  ye  think  to  rebuke 
mere  words,  when  the  words  of  one  in  despair  are  but  wind? 
27.  Indeed  ye  might  [as  well]  cast  lots  for  the  orphan  or  dig 
a  pit  for  your  friend  !  28.  But  now,  consent ;  yield  to  me  ; 
it  is  before  your  face  if  I  speak  falsely.  29.  Return,  I  pray 
you ;  let  there  be  no  perverseness.  Turn  yet  again ;  my 
righteousness  is  in  the  case.  30.  Is  there  perverseness  in  my 
tongue  ?     Does  not  my  moral  sense  discern  wrong  ? 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Job  concludes. 

I.  Is  not  man's  term  of  service  short  on  the  earth?  and 
his  days  as  those  of  an  hireling?  2.  As  the  servant  longs 
for  the  lengthening  shadows  and  the  hireling  waits  for  his 
wages  ;  3.  So  am  I  made  to  inherit  months  of  vanity,  and 
nights  of  trouble  are  my  lot.  4.  If  I  lie  down  I  say,  When 
shall  I  arise  and  the  night  be  gone  ?  I  am  wearied  with 
tossings  about  till  the  dawn  of  morning.  5.  My  flesh  is 
clothed  with  worms  and  clods  of  earth  ;  my  skin  cracks  and 
suppurates.  6.  My  days  are  swifter  than  a  shuttle  and  pass 
away  with  no  hope.  7.  Oh  remember  that  my  life  is  but  a 
breath  ;  my  eye  shall  no  more  see  good.  8.  The  eye  that 
has  seen  me  shall  see  me  no  more  ;  while  thine  eyes  are  yet 
on  me,  I  am  not !  9.  As  the  cloud  is  consumed  and  passes 
away,  so  one  goes  down  to  the  grave,  but  comes  not  again. 
10.  He  returns  no  more  to  his  house ;  his  place  will  know 
him  no  more. 

II.  As  for  me,  I  will  not  shut  my  mouth  ;  let  me  express 
the  anguish  of  my  spirit:  let  me  speak  in  the  bitterness  of  my 


CHAPTER  VIII.  257 

soul !  12.  Am  I  like  the  sea,  or  a  sea-monster,  that  thou 
shouldest  set  a  watch  over  me?  13.  When  I  say — My  couch 
shall  give  me  comfort ;  my  bed  will  relieve  my  complaint ; 
14.  Then  thou  dost  frighten  me  with  dreams  and  terrify  me 
by  night-visions ;  15.  So  that  my  soul  chooses  strangling  and 
death  rather  than  these  bones.  16.  I  am  wasting  away;  I 
shall  not  live  always ;  desist  from  me,  for  my  days  are  only 
a  breath.  17.  What  is  frail  man  that  thou  shouldest  make  so 
gi-eat  account  of  him  and  set  thy  sharp  thought  ujion  him  ? 
18.  That  thou  shouldest  look  after  him  every  morning  and 
put  him  to  stern  trial  every  moment  ?  19.  How  long  wilt 
thou  never  even  look  off  from  me  nor  let  me  alone  till  I  can 
swallow  my  spittle?  20.  Be  it  so  that  I  have  sinned  ;  What 
shall  I  do  to  Thee,  O  thou  Observer  of  men  ?  Why  hast 
Thou  set  me  as  thy  mark  [target]  so  that  I  am  a  burden  to 
myself?  21.  Why  dost  Thou  not  pardon  my  transgression 
and  put  away  my  sin  ? — for  now  [so  soon]  I  shall  sleep  in  the 
dust;  Thou  shalt  seek  me  early  [earnestly] — but  I  shall  not 
be. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

First  speech  of  Blldad. 

1.  Then  Bildad  the  Shuhite  answered  and  said,  2.  How 
long  wilt  thou  speak  these  things,  and  the  words  of  thy 
mouth  be  a  gusty  wind?  3.  Will  God  pervert  judgment? 
AVill  the  Almighty  pervert  justice?  4.  If  thy  sons  have 
sinned  against  him  and  he  have  put  them  in  the  [avenging] 
hand  of  their  transgression  ;  5.  Even  then,  if  thou  wouldest 
seek  God  earnestly  and  lift  thy  prayer  to  the  Almighty,  6. 
And  if  moreover,  thou  thyself  wert  pure  and  upright,  surely 
even  now,  he  would  rouse  himself  in  thy  behalf  and  give 
peace  to  thy  righteous  dwelling.  7.  Thy  beginning  might 
be  small,  but  thy  latter  end  would  be  very  great. 

8.  For  ask,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  earliest  generations  [of 
men]  and  set  thyself  to  inquire  of  their  fathers ;  9.  (For 
we  are  of  yesterday  and  know  nothing,  for  our  days  on  earth 
are  but  a  shadow: )  10.  Will  not  they  teach  thee  and  speak 
to  thee  and  their  words  come  forth  from  their  heart?  11.  Will 
the  papyrus  [paper-rush]  grow  up  without  marshy  soil  ?  will 
12 


258  CHAPTER    IX. 

the  flag  [of  Egypt]  become  tall  without  water  ?  12.  While 
still  in  its  greenness  and  not  cut  off,  yet  [without  water]  it 
will  wither  before  all  herbs.  13.  fSo  are  tlie  paths  of  all 
that  forget  God  !  The  hope  of  the  godless  must  perish  :  14. 
Whose  hope  shall  be  cut  off  and  his  trust  be  as  the  spider's 
web.  15.  He  shall  lean  upon  his  house,  but  it  will  not 
stand  ;  he  will  grasp  it  strongly  but  it  will  not  be  firm.  16. 
Green  is  he  before  the  sun,  and  his  shoot  springs  up  in  his 
garden.  17.  His  roots  entwine  round  the  heap  [of  stones] 
and  strike  firmly  into  the  stony  soil;  18.  But  when  destruc- 
tion swallows  him  up  fi'om  his  place,  this  place  itself  shall 
deny  him  and  say,  I  have  never  seen  thee. 

19.  Behold,  such  as  this  is  the  joy  of  his  life-course  !  From 
the  soil  other  [and  better]  men  spring  up  [to  fill  his  place]. 

20.  Behold,  God  wall  not  spurn  the  perfect  man,  nor  will  he 
make  strong  the  hand  of  evil-doers:  21.  Until  he  fill  thy 
mouth  with  laughter  and  thy  lips  with  shouts  of  joy.  22. 
Thy  haters  shall  be  clothed  with  shame.  As  for  the  tent 
of  the  wicked,  it  is  not ! 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Job  commences  Ms  reply  to  Bildad. 

1.  Job  answered  and  said  ;  2.  Verily,  I  know  it  is  even 
so.  How  shall  man  be  just  with  God  ?  3.  If  God  be 
pleased  to  contend  with  him,  he  can  not  answer  to  one  count 
out  of  a  thousand.  4.  Wise  of  heart  is  he  and  mighty  in 
power  :  who  has  ever  hardened  himself  against  God,  and 
yet  prospered  ?  5.  Who  displaces  the  mountains  ere  they 
are  aware  of  it ;  who  overturns  them  in  his  wrath  ;  6.  Who 
hurls  the  earth  ti-embling  out  of  her  place,  and  her  very 
pillars  are  shaken  ;  7.  Who  speaks  to  the  sun  and  it  shines 
not,  and  seals  up  the  face  of  the  stars  ;  8.  Who  spreads  out 
the  heavens  alone  and  walks  upon  the  heights  of  the  sea; 
9.  Who  made  Arcturus,  Orion,  and  the  Pleiades,  and  the 
chambers  of  the  south  ;  10.  Who  does  great  things  until 
there  is  no  searching  them  out,  and  things  wonderful,  till 
none  can  number  them.  11.  Lo,  he  passes  before  me,  but 
I  see  him  not:  He  moves  along,  I  can  not  discern  him.  12. 
Lo,  he  seizes  like  the  lion  ;  who  can  resist  him  ?  Who  shall 
say  to  him,  AVhat  doest  Thou  ?     13.  God  will  not  turn  back 


CHATTER   X.  259 

his  anger :  the  proud  helpers  [of  the  wicked]  are  prostrated. 
14.  How  much  less  shall  such  au  one  as  I  make  answer  be- 
fore him  and  choose  out  my  -^vords  with  him  ? 15.  As  to 

whom,  if  my  cause  were  just,  I  would  not  even  attempt  to 
answer,  but  would  make  supplication  to  my  Judge.  16.  If 
I  were  to  summon  him  [as  in  a  legal  prosecution]  and  he 
were  to  answer,  I  could  not  believe  he  had  heard  my  voice ; 
17.  He,  Avho  rushes  on  me  as  a  tempest  and  multiplies  his 
inflictions  upon  me  for  no  [apparent]  cause.  18.  He  does 
not  let  me  take  breath,  but  fills  me  full  of  bitter  pains.  19. 
If  as  to  strength — lo.  He  is  mighty  :  if  as  to  judicial  trial, 
who  will  join  issue  with  me  before  the  court  ?  20.  If  I  were 
righteous,  my  mouth  would  condemn  me  ;  perfect  I — then  he 
holds  me  guilty  :  21.  Perfect  I — I  should  deem  my  soul  of 
small  account ; — my  life,  of  little  worth.  22.  This  one  thing 
is  certain,  therefore  I  have  said  it : — He  is  destroying  [alike] 
the  perfect  and  the  wicked.  23.  If  the  scourge  slay  sud- 
denly, he  [seems  to]  mock  at  the  ti-ial  of  the  innocent.  24. 
The  earth  is  given  over  into  the  hand  of  wicked  men  ;  the 
faces  of  its  judges  he  vails  ;  if  this  be  not  [God],  who  is  it? 
25.  My  days  are  swifter  than  a  runner  ;  they  have  fled  away 
and  seen  no  good.  26.  They  have  swept  by  like  the  reed- 
skiffs  [on  the  Nile] — like  the  eagle  pouncing  on  his  prey. 
27.  If  I  say — Let  me  forget  my  sighs  ;  let  me  put  oft"  this 
sad  face  and  put  on  a  brighter  one  ;  28.  Then  I  shudder  un- 
der all  my  pains;  I  know  thou  wilt  not  acquit  me.  29.  I 
at  least  am  held  guilty  ;  what  avails  it  then  that  I  labor  in 
vain  ?  30.  If  I  wash  myself  in  snow-water  and  cleanse  my 
hands  with  alkali ;  31.  Even  then  thou  wilt  plunge  me  into 
the  pit,  and  my  very  clothes  will  abhor  me  !  32.  For  He  is 
not  a  man,  as  I,  that  I  should  answer  him  and  that  we  should 
come  together  into  court  for  trial.  33.  There  is  no  mediator 
between  us  who  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  us  both.  34.  Let 
him  lift  his  rod  from  upon  me ;  let  not  his  terrors  chill  me 
with  horror ; — 35.  Then  would  I  speak  and  I  would  not  fear 
him  ;  but  not  such  is  my  case  in  my  view. 

CHAPTER    X. 

JoVs  speech  concluded. 

1.  My  soul  is  weary  of  living ;  let  me  give  scope  to  my 
complaint;  let  me  speak  in  the  bitterness  of  my  soul.     2.  Let 


260  CHAPTER   XI. 

me  say  to  God,  Do  not  condemn  me ;  let  me  know  why 
tliou  dost  contend  with  me.  3.  Is  it  a  good  to  thee  that  thou 
shouldest  oppress  and  care  little  for  one  Avho  is  the  work  of 
thy  hands,  and  shouldest  shine  upon  the  counsel  of  the  wicked  ? 

4.  Hast  thou  eyes  of  flesh  ?    dost  thou  see  as  man  does  ? 

5.  Are  thy  days  like  man's  days?  and  thy  years  as  the  days 
of  man,  6.  That  thou  shouldest  seek  for  my  iniquity  and 
search  into  my  sin  ?  7.  Although  thou  knowest  I  am  not 
wicked,  and  there  is  none  to  deliver  from  thy  hand.  8.  Thy 
hands  have  formed  and  made  me  in  every  part ;  and  then 
thou  hast  destroyed  me.  9.  Oh  remember  that  thou  hast 
formed  me  as  the  clay  [is  molded],  and  wilt  thou  resolve 
me  back  to  dust  ?  10.  Hast  thou  not  poured  me  out  as  milk, 
and  curdled  me  as  cheese?  11.  Clothed  me  Avith  skin  and 
flesh  and  interlaced  my  frame  with  bones  and  sinews  ?  12. 
Life  and  mercy  hast  thou  granted  me,  and  thy  kind  provi- 
dence has  guarded  my  spirit.  13.  These  things  have  beeu 
deep  in  thy  heart ;  I  know  this  is  with  thee.  14.  If  I  have 
sinned  thou  hast  watched  me,  and  of  my  sin  thou  dost 
not  hold  me  innocent.  15.  If  I  am  wicked,  wo  unto  me  ! 
if  righteous,  I  would  not  lift  up  my  head — full  of  confusion, 
keenly  feeling  my  afiliction.  16.  Then,  should  my  head  rise 
to  view,  thou  wilt  hunt  me  as  the  fierce  lion,  and  again  thou 
wilt  deal  strangely  with  me.  17.  Thou  bringest  fresh  wit- 
nesses against  me — dost  multiply  thy  visitations  of  wrath, 
host  after  host,  upon  me. 

18.  Why  didst  thou  give  me  birth  from  the  womb  ?  ^Yould 
I  had  breathed  out  my  life  and  no  eye  had  ever  seen  me  ! 
19.  Then  I  should  be  as  if  I  had  never  been — borne  from 
the  womb  to  the  grave.  20.  Are  not  my  days  few  ?  Cease 
then  and  lift  from  me  thy  hand,  that  my  face  may  brighten 
a  little  while — 21.  Ere  yet  I  go  whence  I  shall  not  return 
— to  a  land  of  darkness  and  death-shade :  22.  A  land  all 
dark  as  the  darkness  of  the  shadow  of  death  ;  and  no  order 
is  there,  and  it  shines  only  as  very  darkness. 

CHAPTER   XI. 

First  speech  of  ZopTiar. 

1.  Then  Zophar  the  Naaraathite  answered  and  said,  2. 
Shall  a  multitude  of  words  be  deemed  unanswerable?  and 


CHAPTER  XI.  261 

shall  a  mau  of  mucli  talk  be  accounted  just  ?  3.  Shall  thy 
vain  boasts  silence  all  reply,  so  that  thou  mayest  mock  on 
and  there  be  none  to  put  thee  to  shame  ?  4.  And  thou  may- 
est say,  My  doctrine  is  pure,  and  I  have  been  sj)otless  in 
thine  eyes  ?  5.  But  O  that  God  would  speak  and  Avould 
open  his  lips  Avith  thee;  6.  And  would  show  thee  the  un- 
seen things  of  his  wisdom,  for  there  are  complications — [deep 
enfoldings],  in  his  counsels.  Moreover,  know  thou  that  God 
has  not  remembered  against  thee  all  thy  sins. 

7.  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God  ?  Canst  thou  find 
out  the  Almighty  to  the  uttermost  end  ?  8.  They  [the  things 
of  God'\  are  heights  of  heaven  : — what  canst  thou  do  ? — more 
deep  than  hell ;  what  canst  thou  know  ?  9.  Their  measures 
are  longer  than  the  earth  and  broader  than  the  sea.  lU.  If  he 
arrest  [for  trial]  and  imprison,  and  then  summon  before  his 
bar,  who  can  answer  [to  his  indictment]  ?  11.  For  He,  at 
least,  knows  men  of  vanity  most  thoroughly,  and  consequently 
he  sees  all  sin,  though  he  may  seem  not  to  notice  it. 

12.  Now  man  void  of  heart,  has  no  understanding;  as  a 
foal  of  the  wild  ass  is  frail  man  born.  13.  And  yet,  if  thou 
shalt  diligently  prepare  thine  heart  and  stretch  out  unto  him 
thy  hands;  14.  And  then  if  there  be  iniquity  in  thy  hand, 
thou  shalt  put  it  far  aAvay  and  not  let  wickedness  dwell  in 
thy  tents;  15.  Then  surely  thou  mightest  lift  up  thy  face 
without  spot;  thou  shalt  be  calmly  trustful  and  have  no 
fear ;  16.  For  even  tJioii  shouldest  forget  thy  sorrows,  or 
shouldest  remember  them  only  as  water-floods  that  have  gone 
by  forever.  17.  Brighter  than  noon  shall  thy  new  life 
arise ;  the  [former]  darkness  shall  become  as  the  morning. 
18.  And  thou  shalt  be  trustful,  for  there  shall  be  good 
ground  for  hope ;  thou  shalt  search  carefully  and  lie  down  in 
safety.  19.  As  the  herds  in  their  field  shalt  thou  repose  and 
there  be  none  to  alarm.  Many  shall  propitiate  thy  favor. 
20.  But  the  eyes  of  the  wicked  waste  away  [in  disappointed 
hope]  ;  all  refuge  perishes,  and  their  hope  is  as  the  breathing 
out  of  the  spirit  [in  death]. 


262  CHAPTER   XII. 

CHAPTEli    XII. 

Job  commences  his  reply. 

I.  Then  Job  answered  and  said,  2.  Doubtless  ye  are  the 
people,  and  with  you  must  Avisdom  die  !  3.  But  I  also  have 
some  heart  as  Avell  as  yourselves ;  I  am  not  more  fallen  than 
ye ;  and  indeed  with  whom  are  not  such  things  as  these  ? 
4.  Yet  I  am  as  one  mocked  of  his  neighbor — even  I  Avho 
call  upon  God,  and  he  answers.  The  just,  upright  man  is 
an  object  of  scorn  !  5. 'There  is  contempt  for  misfortune  in 
the  thought  of  one  at  ease — contempt  ready  for  those  whose 
feet  are  shding. 

6.  The  tents  of  highway  robbers  have  prosperity;  all  secure 
are  these  men  who  most  recklessly  provoke  God's  wrath,  to 
whom  God  himself  awards  earthly  good  with  his  full  hand. 
7.  But  ask  now  the  beasts,  and  they  will  teach  thee ;  or  the 
fowls  of  heaven,  and  they  will  show  thee ;  8.  Or  speak  to 
the  earth,  and  it  will  teach  thee ;  and  the  fish  of  the  sea  will 
rehearse  it  to  thee.  9.  By  all  these  [witnesses]  who  does 
not  learn  that  the  hand  of  Jehovah  doeth  this?  10.  In 
whose  hand  is  the  soul  of  every  living  one  and  the  spirit  of 
all  human  flesh. 

II.  Does  not  the  ear  try  words  even  as  the  mouth  tastes 
its  food  ?  12.  With  the  ancients  [ye  say]  is  wisdom ;  with 
those  of  many  days  is  understanding.  13.  Rather,  with  Him 
[the  Great  God]  are  wisdom  and  might ;  he  has  counsel  and 
understanding.  14.  Behold,  he  throws  down,  and  it  can 
not  be  built  up ;  he  shuts  down  upon  man,  and  there  shall 
be  no  opening.  15.  Lo,  he  withholds  the  waters,  and  they 
dry  away;  or  he  sends  them  forth,  and  they  desolate  the 
land.  16.  With  him  a*e  sti-ength  and  wisdom ;  in  his  hand 
are  both  deceiver  and  deceived.  17.  He  brings  out  wise 
men  despoiled  and  makes  judges  fools.  18.  He  unlooses  the 
girdle  of  kings,  and  again,  he  binds  the  girdle  upon  their 
loins.  19.  He  brings  out  priests  despoiled,  and  overthrows 
the  mighty.  20.  He  withdraws  the  power  of  the  lip  from 
men  most  trusted;  the  discernment  of  the  aged  he  takes 
away.  21.  He  pours  contempt  upon  princes  and  loosens  the 
girdle  of  the  mighty.  22.  Deep  things  God  brings  up  out 
of  darkness;  the  shadow  of  death,  he  brings  forth  into  the 
light.  23.  He  lifts  nations  on  high,  and  again  he  destroys 
them :  he  enlarges  their  borders,  and  again  leads  them  into 


CHAPTER   XIII.  263 

captivity.  24.  He  takes  wisdom  away  from  the  priuces  of 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  makes  them  wander  in  deso- 
late untrodden  paths.  25.  They  grope  in  darkness  with  no 
light;  he  makes  them  reel  like  the  drunkard. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Juh's  speech  continued. 

1.  Lo,  all  this  has  my  eye  seen,  and  my  ear  has  heard  and 
understood  it.  2.  As  ye  know,  so  also  have  I  known ;  I  am 
not  more  fallen  than  ye  are.  3.  But  verily,  I  for  my  part 
would  speak  to  the  Almighty ;  I  long  to  debate  my  cause 
with  God.  4.  But  ye,  for  your  part,  are  forgers  of  lies; 
miserable  botchers  are  ye  all.  5.  Oh,  that  ye  would  be  en- 
tirely silent,  and  let  this  be  your  wisdom.  6.  I  pray  you, 
hear  my  argument;  give  ear  to  the  pleadings  of  my  lijjs. 
7.  "Will  ye  speak  for  God  jierversely  ?  and  speak  in  his  behalf 
deceitfully?  8.  Will  ye  accept  his  person  and  so  contend  for 
God  ?  9.  Would  it  be  well  for  you  that  he  should  search 
you  out?  as  one  deals  deceitfully  with  man,  will  ye  deal  de- 
ceitfully with  him?  10.  He  will  rebuke  you  severely  if  ye 
covertly  accept  persons.  11.  Shall  not  his  excellency  make 
you  afraid?  and  a  dread  of  him  fall  upon  you?  12.  Your 
most  remembered  sayings  are  like  ash-heaps;  your  towers 
of  argument  like  towers  of  clay.  13.  Cease  to  interrupt 
me ;  let  me  have  scope  to  speak ;  and  then  let  any  thing 
come  down  on  me  !  14.  For  what  do  I  take  ray  flesh  in  my 
teeth  and  put  my  life  in  my  hand?  15.  Behold,  he  will  slay 
me:  I  can  not  hope  [for  any  thing  less],  yet  I  will  defend 
my  ways  before  him.  16.  And  indeed,  he  is  my  salvation, 
for  the  bold  sinner  shall  not  come  into  his  presence. 

17.  Hear  my  wox'ds  attentively  and  my  declaration  with 
your  ears.  18.  Behold  now,  I  have  set  my  cause  in  order  [for 
defense] ;  I  know  that  I  am  just  [as  to  the  charge  against  me]. 
19.  Who  is  he  that  can  plead  [to  purpose]  against  me  ?  for  in 
that  case  I  would  hold  my  peace  and  die  !  20.  Only,  do  not 
thou  with  me  these  two  things ;  then  would  I  not  hide  my 
face  from  before  thee.  21.  Take  off  thy  heavy  hand  from  me 
and  let  not  thy  terrors  affright  me ;  22.  Thou  call  and  I 
will  answer;  or  let  me  speak  [first],  and  thou  respond  to 


264  CHAPTER   XIV. 

me.  23.  Like  what  [of  what  sort]  are  my  iniquities  and 
sins?  Make  me  know  my  transgression  and  my  sin.  24. 
Why  dost  thou  hide  thy  face  and  account  me  an  enemy  to 
thyself?  25.  Wilt  thou  smite  with  terror  the  driven  leaf 
and  chase  the  dry  stubble  ?  26.  For  thou  Avritest  bitter 
things  against  me,  and  makest  me  inherit  the  sins  of  my 
youth.  27.  Thou  dost  set  my  feet  in  stocks  and  watch  all 
my  paths ;  thou  hast  cut  a  trench  around  the  soles  of  my 
feet.  28.  And  he  [this  great  sufferer]  will  waste  away  as  a 
thing  rotten — as  a  garment  the  moth  has  eaten  through. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Job  closes  his  reply. 

1.  Frail  man,  of  woman  born,  is  of  few  days  and  full  of 
trouble.  2.  He  shoots  up  as  a  flower  and  is  then  cut 
down ;  he  flees  fast  as  the  lengthening  shadow,  and  will 
never  stand.  3.  Is  it  upon  such  an  one  thou  opeuest  thine 
eyes,  and  dost  thou  bring  me  into  judgment  with  thyself? 

4.  Who  can  bring  a  clean  one  from  an  unclean  ?     Not  one. 

5.  Inasmuch  as  his  days  are  determined  and  the  number 
of  his  months  is  in  thy  control,  thou  hast  set  his  limit  and 
he  shall  never  pass  it ;  6.  Turn  thine  eye  from  him  that  he 
may  rest  until  he  shall  have  enjoyed  his  day  as  a  hireling. 
7.  Because  there  is  hope  for  a  tree  that  though  cut  down,  it 
will  yet  sprout  and  its  shoot  will  not  utterly  perish ;  8.  And 
though  its  root  become  old  in  the  earth  and  its  stump  die  in 
the  soil ;  9.  Yet,  from  the  scent  of  water,  it  will  send  forth 
buds  again  and  produce  boughs  like  a  plant.  10.  But  the 
strong  man  will  die  and  then  waste  utterly  away  ;  frail  man  of 
earth  expires — and  where  is  he?  11.  Waters  fail  from  the 
pools  [of  the  desert]  ;  the  river-flood  subsides  and  becomes 
dry ;  12.  And  man  lies  dow'n  and  will  not  arise  ;  till  the  heav- 
ens be  no  more  they  will  not  awake  and  will  not  be  roused 
from  their  sleep.  13.  Oh  that  thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  the 
under- world  and  cover  me  until  thy  wrath  be  past !  that 
tho\i  wouldest  appoint  me  a  time  and  remember  me  !  14. 
If  man  dies,  will  he  live  again?  All  the  days  of  my  war- 
service  will  I  wait  till  my  release  come.     15.  Then  thou  wilt 


CHAPTEE   XV.  265 

call  and  I  will  answer  thee.  Thou  wilt  have  a  longing  desire 
toward  the  work  of  thy  hands.  16.  For  now  thou  dost 
number  ray  steps.  Dost  thou  not  watch  for  my  sin? 
17.  JVIy  transgression  is  sealed  up  as  in  a  bag,  and  then  thou 
sowest  up  mine  iniquity.  18.  Over  against  this,  the 
mountain  falling,  comes  to  nought,  and  the  rock  is  removed 
from  his  place.  19.  Waters  wear  away  the  stones  ;  its  floods 
wash  away  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  thou  destroy  est  the 
hope  of  man.  20.  Thou  dost  overpower  him  forever,  and  so 
he  passes  away;  thou  changest  his  countenance  and  dost  send 
him  forth.  21.  His  sons  rise  to  honor,  but  he  knoAvs  it  not; 
or  they  become  small,  yet  he  perceives  it  not.  22.  Only  his 
flesh  for  itself  shall  have  pain,  and  his  soul  for  itself  shall 
mourn. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Second  speech  of  Ehphaz. 

I.  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  answered  and  said,  2.  Will  a 
wise  man  answer  with  windy  knowledge,  and  fill  his  belly 
with  east  wind  storms  ?  3.  Will  he  reason  with  words  that 
avail  nothing,  and  with  speeches  that  profit  not?  4.  Verily, 
thou  dost  annul  piety  and  restrain  prayer  before  God: 
5.  For  thy  mouth  carries  with  it  thine  iniquity,  and  thou 
choosest  the  tongue  of  tlie  crafty.  6.  Thine  own  mouth 
condemns  thee — not  I;  and  thy  lips  make  answer  against 
thee.  7.  Wast  thou  the  first  man  born — brought  forth  be- 
fore the  hills  ?  8.  Wast  thou  a  listener  in  the  privy  counsel  of 
God?  and  dost  thou  restrict  all  wisdom  to  thyself?  9.  What 
knowest  thou  and  we  know  it  not?  or  discern,  and  it  is  not 
with  us?  10.  On  our  side  are  gray-haired,  aged  men,  hav- 
ing more  weight  of  days  than  thy  father. 

II.  Are  the  consolations  of  God  too  small  for  thee, 
even  the  word  that  was  gentle  with  thee?  12.  Why  does 
thy  heart  sweep  thee  away?  and  why  does  thine  eye  twinkle 
with  insolence  ?  13.  That  thy  spirit  should  turn  back  upon 
God  and  thou  shouldest  dare  to  utter  [such]  words  from  thy 
mouth  ?  14.  What  is  man  that  he  should  be  pure  ?  and  one 
born  of  woman  that  he  should  be  righteous?  15.  Behold, 
he  does  not  confide  in  his  holy  ones,  and  the  heavens  are 


266  CHAPTER   XVI. 

not  pure  in  liis  eyes  !  16.  How  much  more  abominable  and 
corrupt  is  man  who  drinks  iniquity  as  water !  17.  Let  me 
show  thee :  hearken  thou  to  me :  the  things  I  have  seen,  let 
me  rehearse;  18,  Which  wise  men,  learning  from  their 
fathers,  have  told  us  and  not  concealed;  19.  To  whom 
alone  the  earth  was  given,  and  no  stranger  had  then  passed 
among  them.  20.  [This  they  have  taught:]  The  wicked 
man  is  in  torment  all  his  days,  even  all  the  years  allotted  to 
the  oppressor.  21.  •  A  dreadful  voice  rings  in  his  ear ;  in  his 
best  prosperity,  the  spoiler  comes  down  upon  him.  22.  He 
can  have  no  hope  of  emerging  from  his  darkness ;  he  is  des- 
tined to  the  sword.  23.  He  wanders  about  for  bread,  saying, 
Where  f  He  knows  that  the  day  of  darkness  is  ready  at  his 
hand.  24.  Trouble  and  anguish  overpower  him  as  a  king 
equipped  for  battle.  25.  For  he  lifts  his  hand  defiantly 
toward  God  and  boasts  as  one  strong  against  the  Almighty. 
26.  He  runs  upon  him  [God]  with  stiflfened  neck,  even  with 
the  thick  bosses  of  his  own  buckler.  27.  For  he  has  covered 
his  face  with  his  fatness  and  laid  on  fat  upon  his  loins.  28. 
He  dwells  in  cities  blotted  out ;  in  houses  where  no  man 
lives,  which  are  destined  to  be  heaps  of  ruin.  29.  He  shall 
not  enrich  himself,  nor  shall  his  wealth  abide,  nor  his  posses- 
sions spread  abroad  in  the  land.  30.  He  shall  not  emerge 
from  his  darkness;  the  flame  shall  Avither  his  branch;  he 
shall  pass  aw^ay  under  the  breath  of  his  [Jehovah's]  mouth. 
31.  Let  him  not  trust  in  evil;  he  deceives  himself  [if  he  does], 
for  evil  Avill  become  his  retribution.  32.  This  shall  be  ful- 
filled ere  his  time;  his  branch  shall  not  even  become  green. 
33.  He  shakes  off  his  grapes  yet  unripe,  as  the  vine,  and  casts 
his  fruit-blossoms  as  the  olive.  34.  For  the  family  of  the 
sinner  becomes  desolate ;  fire  devours  the  tents  of  corruption. 
35.  They  conceive  mischief;  they  bring  forth  calamity: 
their  belly  prepares  deceit. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Job  replies. 

1.  Job  answered  and  said,  2.  I  have  heard  many  things 
like  these ;  tormenting  comforters  are  ye  all.  3.  Is  there 
any  [natural]  end  to  words  of  wind  ?  or  what  excites  thee  to 


CHAPTER    XVII.  267 

answer  [so]?  4.  I  too  might  speak  as  ye  do;  if  only  your 
soul  were  in  the  phice  of  mine,  I  might  multiply  speeches 
against  you,  and  shake  my  head  at  you  scornfully.  5.  But 
I  would  rather  give  you  moral  strength  with  my  mouth,  and 
ray  lip-comforts  should  assuage.  6.  But  now  if  I  speak,  my 
grief  is  not  assuaged ;  if  I  desist,  what  goes  from  me  ?  7. 
Surely  now  hath  he  worn  out  my  strength ;  thou  hast  made 
all  my  household  desolate.  8.  He  has  fixed  his  grasp  upon 
me ;  this  is  in  proof  of  it  that  my  leanness  stands  forth  against 
me  and  answers  to  my  face.  9.  His  anger  tears  and  then 
pursues  me;  he  gnashes  his  teeth  on  me;  my  enemy  makes 
his  eye  sharp  upon  me.  10.  They  have  opened  the  mouth 
wide  against  me;  they  have  smitten  my  cheek  reproachfully; 
they  fill  out  their  battle  array  against  me.  11.  God  hath 
given  me  over  to  the  ungodly;  he  hath  cast  me  into  the 
hands  of  the  wicked.  12.  I  was  living  in  peace ;  but  He 
[God]  hath  shattered  me  utterly ;  he  hath  seized  me  by  the 
neck  and  dashed  me  to  pieces  and  made  me  the  target  for 
his  arrows.  13.  His  hosts  beset  me  round;  he  cleaves  my 
reins  and  spares  not ;  he  pours  out  my  gall  upon  the  ground. 
14.  He  breaks  me  with  breach  upon  breach  ;  he  rushes  on 
me  like  a  giant.  15.  Then  I  sowed  sackcloth  on  my  loins; 
I  thrust  my  horn  into  the  dust.  16.  My  face  is  red  with 
weeping;  on  my  eyelids  rests  the  shadow  of  death.  17.  Not 
for  any  violence  of  my  hands ;  my  prayer  also  has  been  pure. 
18.  O  earth,  cover  not  my  blood,  and  let  there  be  no  place 
for  my  cry  [to  be  suppressed,  unheai'd].  19.  Yet  even  now^ 
behold,  my  witness  is  in  heaven  and  my  attestor  is  on  high. 
20.  My  mockers  are  these  my  [professed]  friends ; — unto 
God  [and  to  him  only]  my  eye  pours  out  its  tears  : — 21. 
that  one  might  plead  for  man  with  God,  even  as  a  mortal 
Avith  his  fellow-man.  22.  When  a  few  more  years  have 
passed,  I  shall  go  that  Avay  from  which  I  shall  return  no 
more. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Job  conclvdes  his  speech. 

1.  My  life-force  is  spent;  my  days  are  extinct;  the  grave 
awaits  me.  2.  If  these  men  with  me  are  not  mockers  [what 
are  they]  ?    Day  and  night  I  must  see  their  insults !    3.  Lay 


268  CHAPTER   XVIII. 

down  now  the  pledge ;  give  me  a  sui-ety  with  thee :  "Who  is 
he  that  will  strike  his  hand  with  mine  [for  a  hearing  in 
court]  ?  4.  For  thou  hast  vailed  their  heart  from  wisdom ; 
therefore  thou  wilt  never  exalt  them  [to  honor].  5.  He 
who  exposes  his  friends  to  the  spoiler,  his  children's  eyes 
shall  pine  away.  6.  He  has  made  me  a  by-word  of  the 
people — a  man  to  be  spit  oh  in  the  face.  7.  My  eye  is  dim 
from  grief;  all  my  members  are  as  a  shadow.  8.  At  these 
things  upright  men  will  be  amazed  ;  yet  will  the  good  rouse 
himself  against  the  wicked.  9.  The  righteous  will  hold 
on  in  his  righteous  way,  and  he  of  pure  hands  will  wax 
stronger. 

10.  But  now,  return  ye  all,  and  come,  I  pray,  [to  review 
my  case],  for  I  find  not  a  wise  man  among  you.  11.  [And 
soon,  for]  my  days  are  past ;  my  plans  of  life  are  frustrated — 
those  dearest  treasures  of  my  heart.  12.  They  put  [the 
elements  of]  night  into  my  day ;  light  is  close  before  the 
face  of  darkness.  13.  Lo,  I  wait  but  a  little,  and  Sheol  is 
my  abode  ;  I  have  spread  my  bed  in  its  darkness.  14.  To 
corruption  I  have  said.  Thou  art  my  father ;  to  the  worm, 
my  mother  and  sister  art  thou.  15.  And  where  is  now  my 
hope  ?  Yea,  my  hope — who  shall  see  it  ?  16.  My  hopes 
go  down  to  the  bars  of  Sheol  when  there  shall  be  rest  [for 
my  body]  in  the  grave. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Second  speech  of  Bildad. 

1.  Then  Bildad  the  Shuhite  answered  and  said,  2.  How 
long  will  ye  make  a  hunt  for  words  ?  Understand,  and  after 
that,  let  us  speak. 

3.  Why  are  we  regarded  as  brute-beasts,  and  accounted 
stupid  in  your  eyes  ?  4.  He  is  tearing  himself  in  his  rage  ! 
For  thy  sake  shall  the  earth  be  forsaken  and  the  foundation 
rocks  be  uptorn  from  their  place  ? 

5.  Verily  the  light  of  the  wicked  shall  be  put  out ;  the 
flame  of  his  fire  shall  not  give  light.  6.  The  light  in  his 
tent  shall  be  darkness  ;  his  lamp  suspended  above  shall  be 
put  out.  7.  His  strong  steps  shall  be  straitened:  his  own 
wisdom  shall  prove  his  downfall.     8.  For  he  is  cast  into  the 


CHAPTER     XIX.  269 

net  with  his  feet ;  he  walks  to  and  fro  over  snares.  9.  The 
trap  shall  seize  him  by  the  heel ;  the  snare  shall  hold  him  fast. 
10.  The  cord  [for  his  foot]  is  hidden  in  the  earth ;  his  snare 
is  over  his  path.  11.  Terrors  affright  him  on  every  side 
and  chase  him  close  upon  his  heels.  12.  His  strength  is 
famished  [as  from  hunger]  ;  destruction  is  ready  at  his  side. 
13.  It  shall  consume  the  portions  of  his  skin  ;  even  his  bodily 
members  shall  the  first-born  of  death  consume.  14.  He  shall 
be  torn  out  of  his  tent — his  place  of  security  ;  thou  Avilt 
march  him  away  to  the  king  of  terrors.  15.  Others  than 
his  offspring  shall  dwell  in  his  tent ;  brimstone  [like  that  on 
Sodom]  shall  be  showered  upon  his  dwelling.  16.  From 
beneath,  his  root  is  withered  ;  from  above,  his  branch  is  cut 
off.  17.  All  remembrance  of  him  perishes  from  the  earth; 
he  has  no  more  a  name  on  the  face  of  the  land.  18.  They 
chase  him  from  light  into  darkness,  and  drive  him  out  of  the 
inhabited  world.  19.  He  has  no  offspring,  no  progeny  among 
his  people ;  no  survivor  in  his  dwelling.  20.  Those  who 
come  after  will  be  amazed  at  his  day  [doom],  and  those  who 
were  before  are  stricken  Avith  horror.  21.  Only  such  as  these 
are  the  habitations  of  the  wicked  ;  this  is  the  doom  of  him 
who  knows  not  God. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Job   replies. 

1.  Job  answered  and  said,  2.  How  long  will  ye  vex  my 
very  soul,  and  break  me  in  pieces  with  your  words  ?  3.  These 
ten  times  ye  have  reproached  me  ;  shameless,  ye  misjudge 
me.  4.  Be  it  so  that  I  have  erred ; — with  myself  my  error 
abides.  5.  If  ye  would  indeed  make  yourselves  strong  against 
me,  then  prove  against  me  your  reproachful  charges.  6. 
Know  ye  now  that  God  hath  wrested  my  cause ;  he  hath  en- 
vironed me  wath  his  net.  7.  Behold,  I  cry  out  of  cruel 
wrong,  but  I  am  not  answered  ;  I  cry  aloud,  but  there  is  no 
justice  [done  me].  8.  My  way  he  has  Availed  up,  and  I  can 
not  pass  on  ;  he  has  spread  darkness  on  my  path.  9.  My 
glory  he  has  stripped  from  me,  and  torn  off  the  croAvn  from 
my  head.  10.  He  breaks  me  down  on  every  side  and  I  am 
gone;  my  path  is  uptorn  as  a  tree.     11.  He  kindles  his  wrath 


270  CHAPTER   XX. 

against  me  and  counts  me  among  his  enemies.  12.  His 
troops  charge  upon  me  together ;  they  cast  up  their  embank- 
ments against  me;  they  encamp  round  about  my  tent.  13. 
He  hath  alienated  my  brethren  from  me ;  those  Avho  have 
known  me  are  wholly  estranged  from  me.  14.  My  nearest 
friends  have  deserted  me  ;  my  old  acquaintance  have  forgot- 
ten me.  15.  Even  the  members  of  my  household  and  my 
maid-servants  account  me  a  stranger  ;  I  am  a  foreigner  in 
their  eyes.  16.  To  my  servant  I  call,  and  he  answers  me 
not,  though  Avith  my  mouth  I  entreat  him.  17.  My  breath 
is  offensive  to  my  wife — my  entreaty,  to  those  born  of  the 
.same  mother.  18.  Even  young  children  despise  me ;  when 
I  rise  up  they  speak  against  me.  19.  All  my  confidential 
friends  have  abhorred  me ;  those  I  have  loved  best  have  turned 
against  me.  20.  My  bones  cleave  to  my  skin  and  my  flesh, 
and  I  have  escaped  with  only  the  skin  of  teeth.  21.  Have 
pity  on  me,  have  pity  on  me,  O  ye  my  friends,  for  the  hand  of 
God  hath  touched  me.  22.  Why  do  ye  pursue  me  as  God  and 
are  not  satisfied  with  my  flesh?  23.  O  that  my  words  might 
now  be  written !  O  that  they  Avere  inscribed  in  the  book ! 
24.  With  an  iron  style  and  with  lead  ;  were  cut  into  the  rock 
forever !  25.  Yet  I  do  know  that  my  Redeemer  lives,  and , 
that  He,  the  last  [or  in  the  latter  time]  shall  arise  upon  the 
earth  ;  26.  And  after  this  skin  of  mine  is  destroyed,  even 
without  my  flesh,  shall  I  see  God  ;  27.  Whom  I  for  myself 
shall  see  and  my  own  eyes  and  not  another's  shall  behold. 
INIy  inmost  soul  has  pined  away  with  longing  [for  this  vision]. 

28.  Because  ye  say — How  will  we  pursue  him  !  And  yet  the 
root  of    the  matter  [intrinsic  rectitude]    is   found  in  me  ; 

29.  Be  ye  therefore  afraid  for  yourselves  of  the  sword  [of 
justice],  for  [such]  wrath  is  a  crime  for  the  sword  [to  piin- 
ish] — that  ye  may  know  there  is  a  judgment. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

ZopTiar  replies. 

1.  Then  Zophar  the  Naamathite  answered  and  said,  2. 
Therefore  do  my  deep  thoughts  press  me  to  reply :  Because 
of  this  is  my  eager  haste.     3.  I  must  hear  myself  shamefully 


CHAPTER  XX.  271 

rebuked  ;  therefore  the  spirit  from  my  inward  thought  forces 
11)6  to  answer. 

4.  Hast  thou  known  this  from  of  old,  from  the  planting  of 
man  upon  the  earth — 5.  That  the  triumphant  shout  of  the 
wicked  is  short,  and  the  joy  of  the  great  sinner  only  for  a 
moment  ?  6.  Though  his  excellency  tower  up  to  the  heavens 
and  his  head  even  touch  the  clouds ;  7.  Yet  corresponding 
to.  his  exaltation,  so  shall  he  j^erish  forever  :  those  who  have 
seen  him  will  say,  Where  is  he?  8.  As  a  dream  shall  he  fly 
away  and  they  shall  not  find  him  ;  he  shall  be  chased  away 
as  a  vision  of  the  night.  9.  The  eye  that  saw  him  shall  not 
see  him  again,  nor  shall  his  place  behold  him  any  more.  10. 
His  sons  shall  conciliate  the  poor,  and  his  hands  shall  make 
restitution  of  his  [ill-gotten]  wealth.  11.  His  bones  are  full 
of  his  youthful  vigor ;  yet  it  shall  lie  down  with  him  in  the 
dust  [of  the  grave].  12.  Though  evil  be  sweet  in  his  mouth 
and  he  hide  it  under  his  tongue ;  13.  Though  he  nurse  it 
tenderly  and  will  not  forsake  it,  but  Avill  hold  it  fast  in  the 
midst  of  his  mouth  ;  14.  Yet  his  food  turns  acrid  in  his 
bowels — the  gall  of  asps  within  him.  15.  The  riches  he  has 
swallowed  greedily,  he  shall  vomit  up ;  God  will  make  him 
disgorge  it  from  his  belly.  16.  The  poison  of  asps  shall  he 
suck  ;  the  tongue  of  the  adder  shall  be  his  death.  17.  Never 
shall  he  see  the  water-courses  [for  irrigation],  and  the  flowing 
streams  of  honey  and  butter.  18.  The  fruits  of  his  labor 
shall  he  restore  and  not  swallow  down  ;  as  borrowed  treasure, 
he  shall  not  rejoice  therein.  19.  Because  he  has  crushed  and 
forsaken  the  poor,  he  has  seized  a  house  by  robbery,  but  shall 
never  build  it  up.  20.  Because  he  has  never  known  quiet 
in  his  bosom,  he  shall  save  none  of  his  coveted  treasures.  21. 
Nothing  escaped  his  devouring  greed  ;  therefore  his  good  shall 
not  be  enduring.  22.  At  the  point  of  his  full  sufficiency,  he 
is  in  straits :  every  hand  of  the  wretched  comes  down  upon 
him.  23.  Let  his  belly  be  filled  !  God  will  pour  out  upon 
him  the  fierceness  of  his  Avrath  and  rain  it  upon  him  with  his 
food.  24.  When  he  would  flee  from  the  shaft  of  iron,  the 
bow  of  brass  shall  smite  him  through.  25.  He  draws  out 
the  arrow  and  it  comes  forth  from  his  body — the  gleaming 
blade  from  his  gall :  terrors  are  upon  him.  26.  All  darkness 
is  stored  up  for  his  treasure ;  a  fire  not  blown  up  [but  spon- 
taneous] shall  consume  him  ;  it  shall  devour  the  last  surviv- 
or in  his  tent.  27.  Heaven  shall  reveal  his  iniquity ;  earth 
shall  rise  up  against  him.  28.  The  increase  of  his  house  shall 
go  away  as  into  captivity — even  his  gathered  riches  in  the 


272  CHAPTER  XXI. 

day  of  his  wrath.     29.  This  is  the  portion  of  the  wicked  man 
from  God — his  ordained  inheritance  from  the  Almighty. 


coi^OO 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

Job's  repli/. 

1.  Job  answered  and  said  ;  2.  Hear  my  words  attentively, 
and  let  this  be  the  consolation  ye  give  me.  3.  Bear  with  me 
and  let  me  speak:  after  I  have  spoken,  mock  on. 

4.  As  for  me,  is  my  complaint  made  to  man  ?  [Since  it  is 
not]  why  should  not  my  spirit  be  troubled  ?  5.  Look  on  me 
and  be  astonished ;  lay  your  hand  upon  your  mouth !  6. 
When  I  remember  all,  I  am  amazed ;  trembling  seizes  my 
flesh. 

7.  Why  do  wicked  men  live,  become  old,  and  indeed, 
mighty  in  power  ?  8.  Their  children  settle  down  with  them 
in  their  presence — their  offspring  under  their  eye.  9.  Their 
homes  are  safe  from  fear ;  no  scourging  rod  of  God  falls  on  them. 
10.  Their  cow  breeds  without  fail  and  is  delivered  of  her 
young'safely.  11.  They  send  forth  their  little  ones  as  a  flock 
and  their  children  dance.  12.  They  take  timbrel  and  harp, 
and  are  glad  at  the  voice  of  the  organ.  13.  They  fill  out 
their  days  in  good,  and  then  in  a  moment  they  go  down  to 
Sheol  14.  And  yet  they  have  been  saying  to  God,  Depart 
from  us ,  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways  we  have  not  desired. 

15.  Who  is  the  Almighty  that  we  should  serve  him,  and 
what  profit  shall  we  gain  though  we  pray  never  so  earnestly  ? 

16.  Mark  well ;  Their  good  [ye  say]  is  not  in  their  hand ! 
But  far  from  me  be  the  counsel  of  the  wicked !  17.  Hotv 
often  is  the  candle  of  the  wicked  put  out?  Hoiv  often  does 
calamity  come  down  upon  them  and  God  allot  to  them  pangs 
in  his  wrath?  18.  And  they  become  stubble  before  the  wind 
and  chaff"  which  the  whirlwind  snatches  away?  19.  Does 
God  [as  ye  say]  store  up  his  sin  for  his  children  ?  Rather 
let  him  requite  it  upon  the  man  himself  that  he  may  know  it. 
20.  Let  his  own  eyes  see  his  calamity,  and  let  the  sinner  him- 
self drink  of  the  Avrath  of  the  Almighty.  21.  For  what 
pleasure  can  he  have  in  his  house  after  him  when  the  number 
of  his  months  is  cut  off"?  22.  Is  it  to  God  that  one  Avould  im- 
part knowledge? — for  He  judges  beings  most  exalted. 


CHAPTER   XXII.  273 

23.  One  man  dies  in  the-fulluess  of  his  perfection,  altogether 
peaceful  and  prosperous.  24.  His  loins  are  full  of  fat ;  the 
marrow  of  his  bones  is  moist.  25.  Another  dies  of  a  bitter 
heart,  and  has  never  tasted  good.  26.  Together  they  lie 
down  in  the  dust,  and  the  worms  cover  them  [alike]. 

27.  Lo,  I  understand  your  thoughts  and  the  artful  reason- 
ings Avhich  ye  cruelly  apply  against  me.  28.  For  ye  say — 
Where  is  the  house  of  the  prince,  and  where  is  the  tent  in 
which  the  wicked  dwell  ?  29.  Have  ye  not  asked  the  way- 
faring men,  and  do  ye  not  recognize  the  signs  of  their  judg- 
ment ?  30.  That  the  wicked  is  reserved  to  a  day  of  calamity 
— carried  over  to  a  day  of  wrath?  31.  Who  sets  his  way  be- 
fore his  face,  and  tnJio  requites  to  him  what  he  hath  done  ? 
32.  And  this  man  is  borne  to  his  grave  [with  honor],  and 
men  watch  over  his  tomb.  33.  The  clods  of  the  valley  are 
sweet  to  him ;  after  him  all  men  draw  and  before  him  too, 
without  number.  34.  How  vain  therefore  are  the  comforts 
ye  would  give  me  !  and  in  your  answers  [when  sifted]  nothing 
remains  but  false  views  of  God. 


CHAPTER     XXII. 

Last  speech  of  Eliphaz. 

1.  Eliphaz  the  Teraanite  answered  and  said,  2.  Can  a 
man  bi'ing  profit  to  God?  For  it  is  himself  the  Avise  man 
profits.  3.  Is  it  a  pleasure  to  the  Almighty  that  thou  art 
righteous  ?  Is  it  gain  to  him  that  thou  makest  thy  life  per- 
fect ?  4.  Is  it  because  of  thy  piety  that  he  reproves  thee 
and  enters  into  judgment  with  thee  ?  5.  Is  not  thy  iniquity 
great,  and  there  is  no  end  to  thy  sins?  6.  For  thou  hast  taken 
a  pledge  from  thy  brother  for  no  consideration,  and  the  gar- 
ment of  the  naked  thou  hast  torn  away ;  7.  Thou  hast  not 
given  water  to  the  weary  and  hast  withheld  bread  from  the 
famishing ;  8.  The  man  of  strong  arm  held  the  land,  and 
men  most  respected  dwelt  in  it.  9.  AVidows  thou  hast  cast 
out  empty,  and  the  arms  of  the  fatherless  have  been  crushed. 
10.  For  these  reasons  have  snares  beset  thee  on  every  side 
and  sudden  fear  hath  filled  thee  with  terror;  11.  Or  dark- 
ness through  which  thou  couldest  see  nothing,  and  water-floods 
have  covered  thee. 


274  CHAPTEK    XXIII. 

12.  Is  not  God  in  the  height  of  heaven  ?  Look  away  to 
the  lofty  stars,  for  they  are  very  high.  13.  Yet  thou  hast 
been  saying  [to  thyself] — How  should  God  know  ?  can  he 
judge  through  the  thick  cloud  ?  14.  Dense  clouds  are  a  cov- 
ering about  hiin,  and  he  will  not  see ;  he  walks  to  and  fro 
upon  the  high  vault  of  heaven. 

15.  Wilt  thou  pursue  the  old  way  which  those  wicked 
men  had  trodden,  16.  Who  were  seized  hold  of  before  their 
time  ;  a  mighty  flood  was  poured  forth  upon  their  foundation  ; 
17.  Who  were  saying  to  God — Depart  from  us,  and  what 
can  the  Almighty  do  for  them  ?  18.  Yet  he  [this  same  God] 
had  filled  their  houses  with  good  !  Far  from  me  be  the 
counsel  of  the  wicked!  19.  The  righteous  shall  see  it  and 
rejoice;  the  innocent  retort  upon  them  their  scorn.  20.  Most 
assuredly  our  adversaries  [say  they]  are  cut  off",  and  all  that 
remains  of  them,  fire  has  devoured. 

21.  Acquaint  now  thyself  with  him  and  be  at  peace ;  by 
such  a  course  shall  good  come  inito  thee.  22.  I  pray  thee 
take  law  from  his  mouth  and  put  his  word  in  thy  heart.  23. 
If  thou  wilt  return  to  the  Almighty,  thou  shalt  be  built  up  ; 
if  thou  Avilt  put  iniquity  far  from  thy  tents ;  24.  If  thou 
Avilt  cast  gold  to  the  ground — the  gold  of  Ophir  to  the  stones 
of  the  brook,  25.  Then  shall  the  Almighty  become  thy  gold, 
and  silver  toilfully  earned,  for  thee ;  26.  For  then  shalt  thou 
delight  thyself  in  the  Almighty  and  shalt  lift  up  thy  face 
trustfully  unto  God.  27.  Thou  shalt  make  supplication  unto 
him,  and  he  will  hear  thee,  and  thou  shalt  perform  thy  vows. 
28.  Thou  shalt  frame  a  plan  and  it  shall  stand,  and  light 
shall  break  forth  upon  thy  ways.  29.  When  thy  ways  are 
depressed,  then  thou  shalt  say,  Uplifting  [comes  soon]  ;  and 
God  Avill  save  men  of  humble  aspect.  30.  He  will  deliver 
even  the  guilty  [the  not  innocent] ;  he  shall  be  delivered  by 
the  pureness  of  thy  hands. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Job's  reply  to  the  last  speech  of  Eliphaz. 

1.  Job  answered  and  said,  2.  Even  to-day  is  my  com- 
plaint deemed  unreasonable ;  but  the  stroke  I  feel  is  heavier 
than  my  groans.     3.  Oh  that  I  knew  and  might  find  him ; 


CHAPTER   XXIV.  275 

tliat  I  might  come  even  to  his  seat ;  4.  That  I  might  order 
my  cause  before  him  and  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments ;  5. 
That  I  might  know  with  what  words  he  would  answer  me 
and  might  understand  what  he  would  say  to  me  !  6.  Would 
he  contend  with  me  in  his  great  strength?  No ;  but  he  would 
surely  set  his  thought  upon  me.  7.  There  the  upright  might 
reason  with  him,  and  I  should  be  delivered  forever  from  my 
[human]  judge.  8.  Lo,  I  go  forward  [to  the  east]— but  he 
is  not  there ;  backward,  but  I  discern  him  not ;  9.  To  the 
left  where  he  works  gloriously — but  I  behold  him  not :  he 
hides  himself  on  the  right  hand,  and  I  can  not  see  him.  10. 
But  still  he  knows  his  way  with  me :  when  he  has  tried  me  I 
shall  come  forth  as  gold.  11.  My  foot  has  held  fast  upon 
his  steps  ;  his  way  have  I  kept  and  not  declined  from  it.  12, 
From  the  precepts  of  his  lips  I  swerve  not;  high  above  my 
ow'n  will  have  I  treasured  and  regarded  the  words  of  his 
mouth.  13.  His  thought  is  one,  and  who  can  turn  him? 
His  soul  desires,  and  then  he  does  it.  14.  For  he  will  accom- 
plish W'hat  is  ordained  for  me,  and  many  things  like  these 
are  in  his  plan.  15.  Therefore  am  I  troubled  before  him; 
I  labor  to  understand  these  things,  and  I  am  afraid  of  him. 
God  hath  made  my  heart  soft ;  the  Almighty  hath  troubled 
me.  16.  For  I  am  not  broken  before  the  face  of  mere  [ex- 
tei'nal]  darkness,  nor  because  he  hath  sj^read  [such]  darkness 
before  my  face. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

Job  concludes  liis  speech, 

1.  Since,  on  the  part  of  the  Almighty,  his  times  [of  judg- 
ment] are  not  hidden,  why  do  not  those  who  know  him  see 
his  days  [of  retribution]  ? 

2.  They  remove  landmarks ;  they  seize  upon  flocks  of  cattle, 
and  then  feed  them  [as  their  own].  3.  The  ass  of  the  father- 
less they  lead  away,  and  take  the  widow's  ox  in  pledge.  4. 
They  turn  the  needy  out  of  their  Avay ;  all  'the  poor  of  the 
land  hide  themselves. 

5.  Behold,  wild  asses  are  they  in  the  wilderness ;  they  go 
forth  for  their  work  in  the  early  morning,  seeking  something 
to  pluck  off;  the  desert  is  bread  to  them  for  the  children.    6. 


276  CHAPTER  XXV. 

In  the  fields  they  pluck  each  his  fodder ;  they  gleau  the 
wicked  man's  vintage.  7.  Naked  they  spend  the  night  with 
no  clothing,  and  have  no  covering  in  the  cold.  8.  They  are 
wet  with  the  mountain  showers,  and  for  want  of  shelter, 
nestle  close  under  the  rocks.  9.  Their  oppressors  tear  the 
orphan  babe  from  the  breast,  and  take  a  pledge  of  the  poor. 
10.  These  walk  about  naked  with  no  clothing ;  they  gather 
sheaves,  yet  are  hungry.  11.  Within  house-walls  they  make 
oil ;  they  tread  wine-presses,  yet  sufier  thirst.  12.  Men  of 
the  city  groan  ;  the  soul  of  the  Avouuded  cries  aloud,  but  God 
seems  not  to  heed  the  crime.  13.  These  men  are  of  those 
who  rebel  against  daylight ;  they  know  not  its  ways ;  they 
dwell  not  in  its  paths.  14.  The  murderer  will  rise  at  the 
dawn  and  will  slay  the  poor  and  the  needy  ;  and  in  the  night, 
will  be  as  the  thief.  15.  The  adulterer's  eye  watches  for  the 
twilight,  saying,  No  eye  shall  see  me :  he  disguises  his  face. 
16.  He  digs  in  the  dark  through  house- walls  :  by  day  they 
hide  themselves ;  they  know  not  the  light.  17.  For  univer- 
sally the  morning  is  to  them  as  the  shadow  of  death,  for  he 
knows  well  the  terrors  of  the  shadow  of  death.  18.  As  a 
light  skiff  is  he  on  the  face  of  the  waters ;  accursed  is  their 
portion  in  the  earth ;  he  turns  not  to  the  way  of  vineyards. 
19.  Drought  and  heat  bear  away  the  swow-waters ;  Sheol, 
those  who  have  sinned.  20.  The  mother  that  bare  shall  for- 
get him  ;  the  worms  feed  sweetly  upon  him  ;  he  shall  be  re- 
membered no' more  :  the  wicked  man  is  broken  down  utterly 
as  the  tree.  21,  He  devours  the  barren  Avoman  who  has 
never  borne  ;  he  blesses  not  the  widow.  22.  In  his  power  he 
takes  away  the  mighty ;  he  rises  up  and  one  is  not  sure  of  his 
life.  23.  He  may  grant  to  one  to  be  in  safety,  and  then  he 
may  have  rest ;  yet  are  his  eyes  upon  their  way.  24.  They 
rise  high  for  a  little  time,  and  then  they  are  not :  they  are 
brought  low  ;  like  all  the  world  they  are  gathered  in  and  are 
cut  ofl'  like  the  top-ears  of  corn.  25.  If  this  be  not  so,  who 
will  prove  me  a  liar  and  put  my  words  to  nought? 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

Last  speech  of  Bildad. 

1.  Bildad  the  Shuhite  answered  and  said,    2.  Dominion 
and  fear  are  his  of  right ;  he  maketh  peace  in  his  high  heavens. 


CHAPTER  XXVI.  277 

3.  Is  there  any  numbering  of  his  hosts  ?  and  on  whom  doth 
not  his  ]ifi;ht  arise?  4.  How  then  shall  man  be  just  with 
God  ?  and  how  shall  one  born  of  woman  be  pure  ?  5.  Look 
away  to  the  moon :  it  gives  no  light; — to  the  stars,  and  they 
are  not  pure  in  his  eyes !  6.  How  much  less  then,  man,  a 
reptile,  and  the  son  of  man,  a  worm  ! 


CHAPTEE    XXVI. 

Job  begins  his  final  reply. 

1.  Job  answered  and  said,  2.  How  hast  thou  helped  the 
helpless  and  saved  the  arm  of  the  powerless!  3.  How  hast 
thou  given  counsel  to  men  of  no  wisdom,  and  made  them  un- 
derstand knowledge  abundantly!  4.  Witli  Avhose  aid  hast 
thou  set  forth  [such]  words,  and  Avhose  inspiration  has  gone 
forth  from  thee  ? 

5.  The  shades  of  the  dead  tremble  from  beneath  the 
waters  and  their  inhabitants.  6.  Naked  is  Sheol  before 
him,  and  there  is  no  covering  to  the  pit  of  destruction. 
7.  He  stretches  out  the  north  over  empty  space,  and  hangs 
the  earth  upon  nothing.  8.  He  binds  the  waters  in  his 
thick  clouds,  and  the  cloud  is  not  rent  beneath  them. 
9.  He  shuts  up  tlie  fixce  of  Ms  throne,  and  spreads  his 
thick  cloud  over  it.  10.  He  described  a  circle  on  the  face 
of  the  waters,  even  to  the  border  line  between  light  and 
darkness.  11.  The  pillars  of  heaven  tremble  and  are 
astounded  at  his  rebuke.  12.  By  his  power  he  stills  the  sea, 
and  in  his  wisdom  smites  down  the  proud.  13.  By  his 
creative  spirit  he  adorned  the  heavens,  and  his  hand 
framed  the  constellation — the  flying  serpent.  14.  Lo, 
these  are  only  the  outlying  borders  of  his  Avorks!  What  a 
whisper  of  a  word  do  we  hear  of  him !  The  thunder  of 
his  power,  who  can  comprehend  ? 


278  CHAPTER   XXVIT. 

CHAPTER     XXVII. 

Job  continues  his  sj^eecli. 

I.  Job  resumed  his  illustrative  discourse  and  said:  2. 
As  God  lives  Avho  has  taken  away  my  judgment,  and  the 
Almighty  who  has  made  my  soul  bitter;  3.  Surely,  so  long 
as  my  breath  is  in  me  and  the  inbreathed  Spirit  of  God  is  in 
my  nostrils ;  4.  My  lips  shall  never  speak  falsely  nor  shall 
my  tongue  utter  deceit.  5.  Be  it  an  abomination  to  me 
that  I  should  justify  you  while  I  live;  I  will  not  disown  my 
integrity,  6.  I  have  held  fast  to  my  integrity  and  I  will  not 
relax  my  hold.     My  heart  shall  reproach  none  of  my  days. 

7.  Let  my  enemy  be  as  the  wicked,  and  whoever  may 
rise  against  me,  as  the  unrighteous.  8.  For  what  is  the 
hope  of  the  daring  sinner,  though  he  hath  torn  away  [other's 
wealth]  when  God  shall  tear  away  his  soul!  9.  When 
trouble  shall  come  upon  him,  will  God  hear  his  cry?  10. 
Will  he  on  his  part  delight  himself  in  the  Almighty,  and 
call  upon  God  at  all  times  ? 

II.  I  will  teach  you  concerning  the  hand  of  God;  the 
counsels  of  the  Almighty  I  will  not  conceal.  12.  Behold, 
ye  have  all  seen  it;  why  then  is  this  that  ye  speak  such 
vanities?  13.  This  is  the  wicked  man's  portion  from  God, 
and  the  heritage  of  oppressors  which  they  shall  receive  from 
the  Almighty.  14.  If  his^children  are  multiplied,  it  is  for 
the  sword,  and  his  offspring* shall  not  be  satisfied  with  bread. 
15.  By  the  pestilence  shall  his  survivors  come  to  their  early 
graves,  and  his  widows  shall  not  bewail  their  dead.  16.  If 
he  heap  up  silver  as  dirt,  and  prepare  clothing  as  the  clay ; 

17.  He  may  prepare,  but  the  righteous  shall  wear  it  and 
the   innocent    shall   divide    his    silver   among    themselves. 

18.  He  builds  his  house  as  the  moth  does,  and  as  a  booth 
which  the  vineyard-keeper  fits  up.  19.  The  rich  man  lies 
down  in  death,  but  is  not  gathered  to  the  fathers;  he  opens 
his  eyes — and  he  is  not !  20.  Terrors  overtake  him  like  the 
water-floods;  in  a  night  the  whirlwind  snatches  him  away. 
21.  An  east  wind  bears  him  away  and  he  is  gone;  it  hurls 
him,  as  the  tempest,  out  of  his  place.  22.  God  will  cast 
forth  his  thunderbolts  upon  him  and  spare  not,  while  the 
sinner  would  fain  flee  from  his  hand.  23.  Men  clap  their 
hands  at  him  and  hiss  him  from  his  place. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII.  279 

CHAPTER    XXVIIT. 

Job  continues. 

1.  For  there  is  a  mine  for  the  silver  and  a  place  for  the 
gold  which  men  refine.  2.  Iron  is  taken  out  of  the  ground, 
and  copper  is  molten  from  stone-ore.  3.  He  [the  miner] 
finds  the  end  of  darkness ;  he  pushes  his  search  to  its  utter- 
most limit  for  the  stone-ore  of  darkness  and  death-shade. 
4.  He  sinks  a  shaft  far  from  where  man  sojourns,  down  paths 
forgotten  of  the  foot.  They  hang  pendulous,  wandering 
far  from  man's  abode.  5.  As  to  the  earth,  bread-corn 
comes  forth  from  it ;  but  the  realms  underneath  it  are 
upturned  as  with  fire.  6.  Her  stones  are  the  place  of 
sapphires;  gold-dust  is  there.  7.  The  path — no  bird  of  prey 
has  known  it ;  no  vulture's  eye  hath  seen  it.  8.  No  proudly 
moving  beasts  have  trodden  it,  nor  has  the  lion  passed  over 
it.  9.  The  miner  smites  the  flinty  rock,  and  turns  up 
mountains  by  their  roots.  10.  He  cuts  water-courses  in  the 
rocks;  his  eye  sees  all  precious  things.  11.  He  binds  the 
water-streams  from  dripping;  things  deeply  hidden  he  brings 
forth  to  light. 

12.  But  wisdom,  whence  shall  it  be  found  ;  and  where  is 
the  place  of  understanding?  13.  Man  knows  not  the  price 
of  it,  nor  is  it  found  in  the  land  of  the  living.  14.  The 
Deep  saith — It  is  not  in  me ;  the  Sea  saith — Not  with  me. 
15.  Fine  gold  shall  not  be  given  for  it,  nor  shall  silver  be 
weighed  out  as  its  price.  16.  It  shall  not  be  put  in  the  bal- 
ance against  the  gold  of  Opjiir,  the  precious  onyx  or  the 
sapphire.  17.  Gold  and  crystal  shall  not  measure  its  value, 
nor  shall  vessels  of  most  fine  gold  be  its  exchange.  18. 
Coral  and  pearls  are  not  to  be  thought  of;  the  price  of  wis- 
dom is  above  the  red  coral.  19.  The  topaz  of  Ethiopia 
can  not  equal  it,  nor  shall  it  be  weighed  against  the  most 
pure  gold. 

20.  ^^' hence  then  shall  wisdom  come,  and  where  Ls  the 
place  of  understanding?  21.  It  is  hidden  from  the  eyes  of 
all  the  living  and  covered  from  the  fowls  of  the  heaven.  22. 
Destruction  and  death  have  said.  We  have  heard  a  rumor  of 
it  with  our  ears.  23.  God  understands  the  way  to  it  and  he 
knows  its  place :  24.  For  his  eye  pierces  to  the  very  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  sweeps  Avhatever  is  under  the  whole 
heaven — 25.  To  fix  the  weight  for  the  winds,  and  to  assign 


280  CHAPTER   XXIX. 

the  waters  by  measure.  26.  When  he  established  the  law 
for  the  rain  and  the  path  for  the  thunder-flash :  27.  Then 
he  saw  and  revealed  it ;  he  prepared  it  and  also  searched  it 
out.  28.  And  unto  man  he  said  :  Lo,  the  fear  of  the  Lord — 
that  is  wisdom,  and  to  depart  from  evil  is  understanding. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Job  continues. 

1.  Again  Job  resumed  his  discourse  and  said;  2.  O  that 
I  were  as  in  former  months,  as  in  the  days  when  God  pre- 
served me ;  3.  When  his  lamp  shone  down  upon  my  head, 
and  in  his  light  I  walked  through  darkness;  4.  As  I  was  in 
my  autumn  days,  when  the  favor  of  God  rested  on  my  tab- 
ernacle ;  5.  While  the  Almighty  was  yet  with  me  and  my 
children  were  round  about  me;  6.  When  my  steps  were 
bathed  in  milk,  and  the  rock  poured  out  for  me  streams  of 
oil.  7.  When  I  went  forth  to  the  city-gate  and  prepared 
my  seat  [the  judge's  bench]  in  the  public  square  ;  8.  Then 
young  men  saw  me  and  modestly  retired :  old  men  arose  and 
stood.  9.  Princes  refrained  from  speaking  and  put  the  hand 
to  their  mouth.  10.  The  voice  of  nobles  was  not  heard; 
their  tongue  cleaved  to  the  roof  of  their  mouth.  11.  For 
the  ear  heard  and  then  blessed  me;  the  eye  saw  and  then 
Avitnessed  to  my  honor,  12.  Because  I  delivered  the  poor 
who  cried  in  distress,  the  fatherless  also  and  him  who  had  no 
helper.  13.  The  blessing  of  the  perishing  came  upon  me ; 
I  made  the  widoAv's  heart  sing  for  joy.  14.  I  put  on  right- 
eousness as  my  clothing,  and  then  righteousness  put  on  me ; 
as  a  royal  robe  and  diadem  were  my  judicial  decisions.  15. 
I  became  eyes  to  the  blind  ;  feet  Avas  I  to  the  lame.  16.  I 
was  a  father  to  the  poor,  and  the  cause  I  had  not  known  I 
searched  out  thoroughly.  17.  I  brake  in  the  jaws  of  the 
extortioner,  and  plucked  forth  his  prey  from  his  teeth.  18. 
Then  I  said,  I  shall  die  in  my  nest ;  I  shall  multiply  days  as 
the  sand.  19.  My  root  lay  open  to  the  waters;  the  dew  lay 
all  night  on  my  branch.  20.  My  glory  was  fresh  upon  me 
and  my  bow  in  my  hand  was  renewed  in  strength.  21.  To 
me  men  listened  ;  they  waited  in  silence  for  my  counsel.  22. 
After  my  words  they  spake  not  again ;  my  words  dripped  as 
the  dew  upon  them.     23.  They  waited  for  me  as  men  wait 


■r 


CHAPTER    XXX.  281 

for  the  I'ain ;  they  opened  wide  their  mouth  for  the  latter 
rain.  24.  I  smiled  on  them  ; — they  could  not  believe  it;  my 
lighted  countenance  they  never  caused  to  fall.  25.  I  chose 
for  them  their  way ;  I  sat  a  chieftain,  and  dwelt  as  a  king 
with  his  hosts — as  one  who  comforts  mourners. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

Joh  continues. 

1.  But  now  men  younger  than  I  treat  me  scornfully,  whose 
fathers  I  should  have  disdained  to  set  with  my  shepherd- 
dogs.  2.  Moreover,  of  what  avail  to  me  could  be  their 
strength  of  hand,  since  their  vital  forces  have  already  per- 
ished ?  3.  Famished  with  want  and  hunger,  they  are  gnaw- 
ing down  the  desert — the  darkness  of  desolate  wastes :  4. 
Who  pluck  the  salt  plants  among  the  bushes,  and  the  roots 
of  the  bitter  broom  are  their  bread.  5.  They  are  driven 
forth  from  among  men  who  shouted  after  them  as  after  the 
thief;  6.  To  dwell  in  horrid  valleys,  in  holes  under  ground 
and  in  the  rocks ;  7.  Among  the  bushes  they  brayed  [like 
asses];  they  lie  sprawled  out  under  the  nettles;  8.  Sous  of 
fools ;  yea,  sons  of  basest  men — they  were  driven  forth  from 
the  earth.  9.  But  now  of  such  men  I  have  become  a  song 
of  derision ;  I  am  to  them  for  a  by- word.  10.  They  abhor 
me,  they  stand  aloof  from  me,  and  do  not  forbear  to  spit  in 
my  presence.  11.  Because  he  [God]  hath  loosed  his  cord 
[of  restraint]  and  afflicted  me,  they  also  have  broken  loose 
all  their  restraint  before  me.  12.  On  the  right  hand  there 
rises  a  young  brood ;  they  trip  my  feet  and  raise  up  against 
me  their  ways  of  approach  for  my  destruction.  13.  They 
mar  my  path ;  they  help  on  my  utter  fall.  I  have  no  helper 
against  them.  14.  They  rush  upon  me  as  waters  through  a 
wide  breach ;  they  roll  themselves  upon  me  wave  after  wave 
for  my  destruction.  15.  Terrors  are  turned  upon  me;  they 
put  my  dignity  to  flight  as  the  wind ;  as  a  cloud  does  my 
salvation  pass  away.  16.  And  now  my  soul  is  poured  out 
within  me  ;  days  of  affliction  have  seized  upon  me.  17.  By 
night  my  bones  in  me  are  pierced  ;  my  gnawing  pains  will 
not  rest.  18.  Through  their  great  violence  my  skin  is  dis- 
figm'ed ;  it  girds  me  close  about  like  the  mouth  of  my  outer 
garment.  19.  He  hath  cast  me  into  the  mire,  and  I  am 
13 


282  CHAPTER    XXXI. 

made  to  be  like  dust  and  ashes.  20.  I  cry  uuto  thee  and 
thou  wilt  not  answer  nie,  though  I  stood  and  tliou  didst 
seem  to  see  me.  21.  Thou  hast  turned  thyself  to  a  cruel 
one  against  me ;  with  the  strength  of  thy  hand  thou  dost 
persecute  me.  22.  Thou  liftest  me  up  to  the  wind  and  dost 
bear  me  away  on  its  blast  and  break  me  to  pieces  in  the 
tempest's  crash.  23.  For  I  know  that  by  death  thou  wilt 
turn  me  back  [to  dust] — to  the  house  appointed  for  all  the 
living.  24.  Surely  there  is  no  prayer  [to  purpose]  when 
God  puts  forth  the  hand,  nor  is  any  cry  for  help  possible  for 
them  when  He  destroys.  25.  If  I  have  not  wept  for  those 
whose  lot  was  hard,  and  if  my  soul  has  not  been  grieved  for 
the  poor!  26.  But  yet  I  have  waited  for  good,  and  then 
there  came  evil ;  I  have  waited  for  light,  and  there  came 
darkness.  27.  My  bowels  boiled  with  heat  and  had  no  rest; 
days  of  affliction  met  me  in  the  flice.  28.  I  walked  about 
blackened,  yet  not  with  sundieat ;  I  have  stood  up  and  cried 
aloud  in  the  congregation.  29.  I  have  been  a  brother  to 
jackals,  a  companion  to  the  daughters  of  the  ostrich.  30. 
My  skin  comes  off  from  me  blackened,  and  my  bones  are  hot 
with  fever-heat.  31.  My  harp  is  only  for  mourning;  my 
organ  for  the  voice  of  weeping. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

The  close  of  Job's  last  reply. 

1.  I  have  made  a  covenant  with  my  eyes ;  why  then 
should  I  think  upon  a  maid  ?  2.  What  is  the  allotment 
of  God  from  above,  and  what  the  inheritance  of  the  Al- 
mighty from  on  high?  3.  Is  it  not  destruction  to  the 
wicked  and  unwonted  calamity  to  the  workers  of  iniquity  ? 

4.  Will   not   he   see   my  ways   and  number  all  my  steps  ? 

5.  If  I  have  walked  in  falsehood  and  my  foot  has  hasted 
to  deceit,  6.  He  will  weigh  me  in  the  scales  of  justice  and 
he  will  know  my  integrity.  7.  If  my  steps  have  deflected 
from  the  right  way  and  my  heart  has  gone  after  my  eyes, 
and  a  blot  has  cleaved  to  my  hand ;  8.  Then  let  me  sow 
and  another  eat,  and  let  my  crops  be  rooted  up.  9.  If  my 
heart  has  been  enticed  toward  woman ;  if  I  have  lain  in 
wait  at  the  door  of  my  friend ;  10.  Let  my  wife  grind 
for  another,  and  let  others  bow  down  upon  her.     11.  For 


CHAPTER   XXXI.  283 

this  is  a  crime  of  wicked  intent. — a  sin  for  the  Judge  [to 
punish].  12.  For  this  is  a  fire  that  Avill  consume  even  to  de- 
struction, and  will  root  out  all  my  increase. 

13.  If  I  disregarded  the  rights  of  my  man-servant  or  of  my 
maid-servant  in  their  litigation  with  me  ;  14.  What  should 
I  do  when  God  should  arise  ?  and  when  He  should  look  into 
the  case,  Avhat  should  I  answer  him  ?  15.  Did  not  He  who 
formed  me  in  the  womb  form  him  also  ?  Did  not  one  God 
give  us  both  our  being  in  the  womb?  16.  If  I  have  with- 
held the  poor  from  what  they  desired  and  have  consumed 
with  grief  the  eyes  of  the  widow;  17.  If  I  have  eaten  my 
morsel  alone,  and  the  fatherless  have  not  eaten  of  it  also  ; 
18.  For  from  my  youth  he  grew  up  with  me,  as  with  a  father, 
and  I  have  guided  her  from  my  mother's  womb  ;  19.  If  I 
have  seen  any  one  perish  for  want  of  clothing  and  there  was 
no  covering  for  the  poor  ;  20.  If  his  loins  have  not  blessed 
me  and  he  Avere  not  made  warm  by  the  fleece  of  my  sheep  ; 
21.  If  I  have  lifted  my  hand  against  the  fatherless  when  I 
saw  my  helper  in  the  gate  ;  22.  Let  my  shoulder  fall  from 
its  shoulder-blade  and  my  arm  be  broken  from  the  bone. 
23.  For  destruction  from  God  is  a  terror  to  me  and  befoi'e 
his  majesty  I  could  not  [stand]. 

24.  If  I  have  made  gold  my  hope  and  have  said  to  fine 
gold,  Thou  art  my  trust ;  25.  If  I  have  rejoiced  that  my 
wealth  was  gi'eat  and  that  my  hand  had  found  much  ;  26.  If 
I  beheld  the  sun  when  it  shone  forth  and  the  moon  walking 
in  brightness, — 27.  And  then  my  heart  has  been  secretly  en- 
ticed and  my  hand  has  gently  touched  my  mouth  ;  28.  This 
also" were  a  sin  for  my  judge  [to  punish],  for  I  should  have 
denied  the  God  above. 

29.  If  I  have  rejoiced  in  the  destruction  of  him  who  hated 
me  or  was  elated  with  joy  when  evil  befell  him  ; — 30.  But  I 
did  not  suffer  my  mouth  to  sin  by  asking  for  a  curse  upon 
his  soul :  31.  If  the  men  in  charge  of  my  tent  do  not  say — 
Who  can  produce  a  man  not  satisfied  to  the  full  with  his 
flesh-meat  ?  32.  The  stranger  has  not  lodged  without ;  I 
opened  my  doors  to  the  traveler :  33.  If  I  have  covered  my 
transgression  as  Adam  did  to  hide  my  sin  in  my  bosom — 34. 
Then  let  me  dread  the  great  assembly,  and  let  the  contempt 
of  whole  tribes  confound  me  so  that  I  should  be  dumb  and 
not  go  forth  from  my  door. 

35.  O  that  there  were  some  one  to  hear  me  !  Lo,  my 
mark  !  Let  the  Almighty  answer  me  and  my  legal  opponent 
put  his  charge  in  writing !     36.     Then  if  I  would  not  bear 


284  CHAPTER     XXXII, 

it  on  my  shoidcler  and  bind  it  on  ray  head  as  a  crown  !  37. 
I  would  set  before  bim  all  my  steps  ;  I  would  come  near  to 
him  like  a  prince. 

38.  If  my  land  cry  out  against  me  and  all  its  furrows 
weep  ;  39.  If  I  have  eaten  the  products  of  it  without  money 
and  have  made  its  tenants  breathe  out  their  life ; — 40.  Then 
let  thistles  grow  from  it  instead  of  wheat  and  foul  weeds  in- 
stead of  barley.     The  words  of  Job  are  ended. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

Eliliu  appears' 

1.  So  these  three  men  ceased  to  answer  Job  because  he  was 
right  in  his  own  eyes.  2.  Then  was  kindled  the  wrath  of  Elihu, 
son  of  Barachel  the  Buzite,  of  the  tribe  of  Ram ;  against 
Job  was  his  Avrath  kindled  because  his  soul  justified  itself 
rather  than  God.  3.  Also  against  his  three  friends  was  his 
w^'ath  kindled  because  they  had  found  no  answer  and  yet  had 
condemned  Job. 

4.  Now  in  respect  to  words  Elihu  had  waited  for  Job  [and 
his  friends]  because  they  Avere  older  than  he.  5.  When  Elihu 
saw  there  was  no  answer  in  the  mouths  of  the  three  friends,  his 
wrath  was  Idndled.  6.  Elihu,  son  of  Barachel  the  Buzite, 
took  up  the  case  and  said — I  am  young,  and  ye  are  very  old ; 
therefore  I  advanced  timidly  and  feared  to  show  you  my 
opinion.  7.  I  said.  Days  should  speak  and  the  multitude  of 
years  should  teach  wisdom.  8.  But  verily  there  is  a  spirit  in 
man,  and  tlie  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  gives  them  under- 
standing. 9.  Not  all  great  men  are  wise,  nor  do  all  the 
aged  understand  judgment.  10.  Therefore  I  said,  Hear  ye 
me;  let  even  me  set  forth  my  opinion.  11.  Lo,  I  have 
waited  for  your  words;  I  gave  ear  to  your  arguments  until 
ye  had  searched  out  what  to  say.  12.  Unto  you  I  gave  ear 
diligently,  and  behold,  no  one  convicted  Job ;  none  of  you 
answered  his  words:  13.  Lest  ye  say.  We  have  found  out 
wisdom  :   God — not  man — must  put  him  down. 

14.  Now  he  has  not  arranged  his  words  against  me,  and  I 
shall  not  rej^ly  to  him  with  your  speeches.  15.  They  were 
amazed  ;  they  ansAvered  not  again  ;  Avords  Avere  far  aAvay 
from  them.     16.  When  I  had  Avaited — for  they  spake  not, 


CHAPTER     XXXIII.  285 

but  stood  and  answered  not  again  ;  17.  [I  said]  I  also  for 
my  part  will  answer  ;  even  I  will  show  my  opinion.  18.  For 
I  am  full  of  words;  the  spirit  within  me  presses  me  sore. 
19.  Lo,  my  belly  is  as  wane  and  has  no  vent;  it  will  burst  as 
new  bottles.  20.  Let  me  speak,  and  it  will  give  me  relief;  let 
me  open  my  lips  and  answer.  21.  Let  me  not  accept  the 
person  of  man  ;  I  will  not  flatter  any  man.  22.  For  I  know 
not  [how]  to  flatter  ;  and  [if  I  should]  my  JMaker  would  soon 
take  me  oft". 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

EliJm    continues. 

1.  Wherefore,  O  Job,  I  pray  thee,  hear  my  words  and 
give  ear  to  all  I  may  say.  2.  Behold  now,  I  have  opened 
my  mouth ;  my  tongue  has  spoken  in  my  mouth.  3.  My 
words  are  the  uprightness  of  my  heart ;  my  lips  shall  speak 
forth  knowledge  in  purity. 

4.  The  Spirit  of  God  has  made  me ;  the  breath  of  the  Al- 
mighty gives  me  life.  5.  Answer  me  if  thou  art  able  ;  set 
thyself  before  me  ;  take  thy  stand.  6.  Lo,  I  am  like  thy- 
self as  to  God  ;  I  too  am  formed  of  clay.  7.  See,  the  fear 
of  me  will  not  terrify  thee  ;  my  dignity  shall  not  be  heavy 
upon  thee.  8.  Surely  thou  hast  said  in  mine  ears  and  I  have 
heard  the  voice  of  thy  words — 9.  I  am  pure  without  trans- 
gression ;  I  am  cleansed  ;  there  is  no  iniquity  in  me.  10.  Lo, 
He  will  find  occasions  of  antagonism  against  me;  He  will 
account  me  his  enemy.  11.  He  puts  my  feet  in  the  stocks; 
he  watches  all  my  paths. 

12.  Lo,  in  this  thou  art  not  right.  I  will  answer  thee,  for 
God  is  greater  than  man.  13.  AV^herefore  dost  thou  contend 
with  him  ?  For  he  will  answer  as  to  none  of  his  matters. 
14.  For  God  will  speak  once,  and  a  second  time  if  one  does 
not  notice  it.  15.  In  dreams  and  night-visions  when  deep 
sleep  falls  on  men,  in  slumbers  upon  the  bed  :  16.  Then  he 
opens  the  ear  of  men  and  seals  instruction  to  them,  17.  To 
divert  man  from  misdeeds,  and  he  will  hide  pride  from  am- 
bitious man.  18.  He  will  hold  back  his  soul  from  the  pit 
and  his  life  from  passing  away  under  the  fatal  dart.  19.  He 
is  chastened  with  suffering  upon  his  bed  and  with  racking 
pain  of  his  bones    continually ;     20.  So  that   his   appetite 


286  CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

loathes  bread,  and  his  soul  all  desu-able  food.  21.  His  flesh 
is  consumed  from  view;  his  bones — not  seen  before — are  laid 
bare.  22.  Then  his  soul  'draws  near  to  the  pit  and  his  life 
to  the  destroyer.  23.  If  there  be  then  a  messenger  for  him, 
an  interpreter,  one  of  a  thousand,  to  show  to  man  his  right 
way ;  24.  Then  he  will  be  gracious  to  hira  and  will  say — 
"Redeem  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit;  I  have  found  a 
ransom."  25.  Then  liis  flesh  shall  be  more  fresh  than  a 
child's  ;  he  shall  be  borne  back  to  the  days  of  his  youth. 
26.  He  shall  make  supplication  to  God,  and  He  will  accept 
him  witli  favor  :  he  will  look  upon  the  face  [of  God]  with 
joy,  and  He  will  render  to  man  his  righteousness.  27.  He 
shall  chant  it  before  men  and  shall  say — I  had  sinned  and 
jierverted  the  right,  and  it  Avas  never  fully  requited  against 
me.  28.  He  hath  redeemed  my  soul  from  going  down  to  the 
pit ;  my  life  shall  behold  the  light.  29.  Lo,  all  these  things 
does  God  accomplish,  even  thrice  told,  Avith  man  ;  30.  To 
bring  back  his  soul  from  the  pit,  to  renew  the  light  of 
his  life. 

31.  Attend,  0  Job;  listen  to  me;  be  silent  and  I  will 
speak.  32.  If  thou  hast  words  to  say  in  reply,  speak ;  for  I 
shall  delight  to  justify  thee.  33.  But  if  thou  hast  nothing 
to  reply,  hear  me;  be  silent,  and  I  Avill  teach  thee  wisdom. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

Eliliu   continues. 

I.  Then  Elihu  resumed  and  said:  2.  Hear  my  words,  ye 
Avise  men,  and  ye  Avho  have  knowledge,  give  ear  to  me  :  3. 
For  the  ear  tries  words,  and  the  mouth  tastes  for  eating.  4. 
Let  us  search  out  for  ourselves  AA'hat  is  right ;  let  us  knoAV 
betAveen  us  what  is  good,  5.  For  Job  has  said,  "I  am 
righteous,  and  God  has  taken  aAvay  my  rights.  6.  Shall  I 
speak  falsely  against  my  own  right  ?  My  arrow-wound  is 
incurable,  for  no  sin  of  mine." 

7.  What  manly  soul  is  like  Job  aa'Iio  drinks  in  scofling  as 
Avater,  8.  Who  goes  in  company  Avith  evil-doers  and  Avalks 
Avith  Avicked  men  ?  9.  For  he  has  said — a  man  will  find  no 
profit  from  takmg  his  delight  in  God.     10.  Therefore,  ye  men 


CHAPTER   XXXIV.  287 

of  understanding,  hearken  to  me.  God  turns  away  from 
wickedness  with  abhorrence, — the  Almighty,  from  all  injus- 
tice !  11.  For  the  very  work  of  man  God  will  render  to  him, 
and  will  bring  upon  him  according  to  his  own  way..  12. 
]\Iost  assuredly  God  will  do  nothing  Avicked  ;  the  Almighty 
Avill  never  pervert  justice.  13.  Who  has  put  him  in  charge 
of  the  earth,  and  who  has  set  him  over  the  whole  inhabited 
world  ?  14.  If  he  set  his  heart  on  man,  if  he  recall  to  him- 
self man's  spirit  and  breath  ;  15.  All  flesh  would  expire 
together  and  luortal  man  return  unto  dust.  16.  If  there  be 
understanding,  hear  this  ;  give  ear  to  the  voice  of  my  words. 
17.  Shall  one  who  hates  the  right  have  supreme  dominion  ? 
Wilt  thou  condemn  the  Just  and  Mighty  One?  18.  Shall 
one  say  to  a  king — O  thou  bad  !  and  to  nobles,  O  wicked  one ! 
19.  To  one  who  accepts  not  the  person  of  princes  and  knows 
not  the  rich  in  the  presence  of  the  poor,  because  they  all  are 
the  work  of  his  hands  ?  20.  In  a  moment  they  die  ;  at  mid- 
night they  are  smitten  and  pass  away  ;  even  the  mighty  are 
taken  away  by  no  [visible]  hand.  21.  For  his  eyes  are  ou 
the  ways  of  nxan  and  he  sees  all  his  steps.  22.  There  is  no 
darkness,  no  death-shade,  where  the  workers  of  iniquity  can 
hide  themselves.  23.  For  he  will  not  set  his  thought  again 
and  again  upon  man  that  he  may  come  before  God  iu  the 
judgment.  24.  But  he  crushes  the  mighty  with  no  long  an- 
tecedent searching,  and  sets  up  other  men  in  their  stead. 
25.  Inasmuch  as  he  knows  their  deeds  and  overturns  them 
in  a  night  and  they  ai'e  crushed  to  pieces.  26.  They  being 
wicked,  he  smites  them  in  the  presence  of  beholders;  27. 
Because  they  turned  back  from  following  him  and  would 
understand  none  of  his  ways;  28.  So  that  they  bring  up  the 
cry  ot  the  poor  before  him,  and  he  will  hear  the  outcry  of 
the  afilicted.  29.  When  He  gives  rest,  who  shall  condemn 
as  guilty?  and  when  he  hides  his  face,  who  shall  behold 
him  ?  and  alike  as  to  a  nation  or  an  individual  man.  30.  So 
that  no  bad  man  shall  reign,  nor  the  people  be  ensnared. 
31.  For  should  not  one  say  unto  God — I  have  borne  [chas- 
tisement] ;  I  will  be  i')erverse  no  more  ?  32.  What  I  can  not 
see,  teach  thou  me;  if  I  have  done  evil,  I  will  not  again. 
33.  Shall  it  be  at  thy  will  that  God  shall  i-equite,  so  that 
thou  mayest  refuse,  or  thou  choose,  and  not  He  ?  What  thou 
knowest,  speak.  34.  Let  men  of  understanding  speak  to  me, 
and  let  the  wise  man  hear  me.  35.  Job  speaks  without 
knowledge,  and  his  Avords  are  not  in  wisdom.  36.  O  that 
Job  might  be  tried  thoroughly  on  account  of  his  answers  in 


288  CHAPTER     XXXV. 

sympathy  with  wicked  men  !  37.  For  he  adds  rebellion  to 
his  sins  of  error  ;  he  claps  his  hands  among  us  and  multiplies 
his  words  against  God. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

Elihu  continues. 

1.  Elihu  resumed  and  said  :  2.  Dost  thou  think  this  to  be 
right  ?  Thou  hast  said — My  righteousness  is  more  than  God's. 
3.  For  thou  saidst,  What  will  it  profit  thee,  and  what  shall 
I  gain  more  than  by  my  sin  ?  4.  With  words  I  Avill  answer 
thee  and  thy  friends  with  thee. 

5.  Look  up  to  the  heavens  and  see ;  behold  the  clouds ; 
they  are  higher  than  thou.  6.  If  thou  hast  sinned  what  dost 
thou  effect  as  to  him?  If  thy  transgressions  are  many,  what 
dost  thou  to  him  ?  7.  If  thou  art  righteous,  what  dost  thou 
give  to  him?  or  what  does  he  receive  from  thy  l^ind?  8. 
Thy  wickedness  is  toward  a  man  such  as  thou  art,  and  thy 
righteousness  toward  a  son  of  man.  9.  Because  of  the  mul- 
titude of  oppressions,  they  cry ;  because  of  the  arm  of  the 
mighty  they  cry  for  helj) ;  10.  Yet  he  dpes  not  say.  Where 
is  God  my. Maker  who  gives  songs  in  the  night?  11.  Who 
teaches  us  more  than  he  does  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  and 
makes  us  wiser  than  the  fowls  of  the  heavens.  12.  There 
they  cry,  but  He  does  not  answer,  because  of  the  pride  of 
the  wicked.  13.  Surely  God  will  not -hear  vain  [insincere] 
prayer ;  the  Almighty  Avill  not  regard  it.  14.  How  much 
less  when  thou  sayest  thou  wilt  not  regard  him!  The 
cause  is  before  Him  [as  the  Infinite  Judge]  ;  wait  thou  upon 
him.  15.  But  now  because  He  does  not  visit  with  anger  and 
does  not  closely  scrutinize  transgression  ;  16.  Therefore  Job 
opens  his  mouth  for  vanity,  and  multiplies  words  without 
knowledge. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI.  289 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

Elihu  continues. 

1.  Elihu  still  contiuiied  and  said ;  2.  Wait  for  me  yet  a 
little  and  I  will  show  thee,  for  there  are  yet  more  words  for 
God.  3.  I  will  bring  my  knowledge  from  far,  and  Avill 
ascribe  righteousness  to  my  JNIaker.  4.  For  truly  my  words 
are  not  false ;  one  perfect  in  knowledge  is  with  thee. 

5.  Lo,  God  is  mighty,  yet  will  he  never  oppress ;  mighty 
is  He  in  strength  of  understanding.  6.  He  blesses  not  the 
life  of  the  wicked  ;  but  he  will  award  the  right  of  the  poor. 
7.  He  withdraws  not  his  eyes  from  the  righteous  ;  with  kings 
on  the  throne  are  they  ;  He  makes  them  sit  there  forever,  and 
they  are  exalted  in  honor.  8.  But  if,  bound  in  chains,  they 
are  caught  in  the  tight  bands  of  afHiction,  9.  Then  He  sets 
before  them  their  deeds  and  their  transgressions,  because  they 
have  dealt  proudly.  10.  He  opens  their  ear  to  the  instruction 
[he  would  give],  and  says  they  must  turn  back  from  iniquity. 
11.  If  they  will  hear  and  will  serve  him,  they  shall  spend 
their  days  in  prosperity  and  their  years  in  pleasure.  12.  But 
if  they  will  not  hear,  they  pass  away  by  the  dart  and  die 
without  knowledge.  13.  Men  of  vile  heart  heap  up  wrath 
[against  themselves]  ;  they  will  not  cry  [to  God]  when  He 
binds  them  [in  affliction].  14.  Their  soul  shall  die  in  youth 
and  their  life  with  prostitutes. 

15.  He  will  deliver  the  poor  in  his  affliction;  he  will  open 
their  ear  in  the  distress  [brought  on  them].  16.  And  even 
thee,  O  Job,  would  he  allure  from  the  jaws  of  the  strait  into 
a  broad  place,  having  no  straits  underneath  [or  beyond]  it  ; 
and  the  food  on  thy  table  should  be  full  of  fatness.  17.  Thou 
hast  filled  thy  heart  with  the  judgments  [opinions]  of  wicked 
men ;  the  judgments  and  justice  [of  God]  shall  take  hold 
of  thee.  18.  Because  there  is  heat  [of  resentment],  beware 
lest  it  excite  thee  against  the  chastising  stroke;  for  then, 
[in  that  case]  a  great  ransom  can  not  deliver  thee.  19.  Will 
he  esteem  thy  riches — not  of  small  amount — and  all  the  re- 
sources of  wealth?  20.  Pant  not  for  the  night  [of  death] 
for  the  nations  to  go  down  to  the  under-world.  21.  Take 
heed  ;  turn  not  toward  iniquit}^,  for  this  hast  thou  chosen 
rather  than  affliction. 

22.  Behold,  God  is  exalted  in  power  ;  who  is  a  teacher  like 
Him?     23.  A\nio  hath  enjoined  upon  him  the  way  he  shall 


290  CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

take,  or  Avho  can  say — Thou  hast  done  wrong  ?  24.  Remem- 
ber that  thou  magnify  his  work  which  men  [fitly]  celebrate 
in  song.  25.  All  men  have  seen  it;  man  may  behold  it  from 
afar.  26.  Lo,  God  is  high  and  we  shall  not  know  him  ;  the 
number  of  his  years  there  is  no  searching  out.  27.  For  he 
draws  up  the  water-drops  [by  evaporation]  ;  they  pour  forth 
the  rain  for  his  vapor  ;  28.'  Which  the  clouds  shed  forth  and 
distill  upon  man  abundantly.  29.  Can  one  understand  the 
bursting  of  the  thunder-cloud — the  noise  of  his  tent  ?  30. 
Behold,  he  spreads  his  light  round  about  himself;  he  covers 
himself  with  the  waters  of  the  ocean  depths.  81.  For  by 
these  he  judges  the  nations  ;  he  gives  food  in  abundance. 
32.  The  palms  of  his  hands  he  covers  Avith  the  lightning's 
blaze  and  gives  it  his  commission  against  the  enemy.  33. 
His  thunder  speaks  of  him — to  the  herds  of  cattle  even — of 
Him  who  is  on  high. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

Close  of  Elilius  speech. 

1.  My  heart  also  trembles  at  this  and  would  start  from  its 
place :  2.  Listen  attentively  to  the  roar  of  his  voice — the 
sound  which  goes  forth  from  his  mouth.  3.  Under  the  whole 
heaven  he  shapes  its  course,  and  the  light  of  it  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  4.  After  it  [the  lightning],  a  voice  roars ;  he 
thunders  with  the  voice  of  his  majesty :  he  will  not  detain 
them  [the  lightnings]  when  his  voice  of  thunder  is  heard.  5. 
God  thunders  marvelously  with  his  voice,  doing  great  things, 
and  we  can  not  know  them.  6.  For  he  commands  the  snow — 
Be  thou  upon  the  earth ;  also  the  gentle  rain  and  the  great 
rain  of  his  strength.  7.  He  seals  up  [from  labor]  the  hand 
of  every  man,  that  all  men  of  his  workmanship  may  know 
him.  8.  Then  the  beast  goes  into  his  den  and  dwells  in  his 
place  of  rest.  9.  From  the  south  comes  the  whirlwind,  and 
from  the  north,  the  cold.  10.  By  the  breath  of  God  he  gives 
ice  and  the  breadth  of  the  waters  is  compressed.  11.  Also 
with  moisture  he  loads  the  thick  clouds ;  he  sends  abroad  his 
lightning-cloud.  12.  He  turns  them  about  by  his  guiding 
Avill  that  they  may  accomplish  all  that  he  commands  them 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII.  291 

upon  the  face  of  the  inhabited  avoiIcI.  13.  He  causes  it  to 
find  and  execute  its  work,  whether  for  a  rod  for  his  land,  or 
for  mercy.  14.  Hear  this,  O  Job;  stand  and  consider  the 
wonderful  works  of  God  !  15,  Didst  thou  know  it  at  the  time 
when  God  set  his  thought  upon  these  things,  and  made  the 
lightnings  of  his  cloud  shine  forth?  16.  Didst  thou  know 
as  to  the  balanqjngs  of  the  clouds — the  wonderful  works  of 
Him  who  is  perfect  in  knowledge?  17.  How  thy  garments 
are  warm  when  he  makes  the  earth  quiet  under  his  south 
wind  ?  18.  Didst  thou  with  him  construct  the  firmament, 
solid  as  a  molten  mirror?  19.  Teach  us  what  we  shall  say  to 
him,  for  we  can  not  put  it  in  order  on  account  of  our  dark- 
ness. 20.  Shall  it  be  said  to  him — I  would  speak  [to  thee]  ? 
Shall  a  man  speak  [to  God]  that  he  may  be  swallowed  up? 
21.  Even  now  men  can  not  gaze  on  the  bright  sun  in  the 
skies  when  the  wind  has  passed  over  and  cleared  them.  22. 
From  the  north  breaks  forth  the  clear  golden  sky ;  Avith  God 
is  terrible  majesty.  23.  The  Almighty !  we  have  not  found 
him  out;  exalted  is  he  in  power  and  in  judgment  and  in 
abundant  righteousness.  He  will  ansAver  to  no  charges.  24. 
Therefore  have  men  feared  him  ;  he  Avill  look  [propitiously] 
on  none  of  the  wise  of  heart. 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

Jehovah  speaks  to  Job. 

1.  Then  Jehovah  ansAvered  Job  out  of  the  whirhvind  and 
said — 2.  Who  is  this  that  darkens  counsel  Avith  Avords  and 
no  knowledge?  3.  Gird  noAV  thy  loins  like  a  mighty  man, 
and  I  will  ask  thee,  and  teach  thou  me.  4.  Where  Avast 
thou  Avhen  I  laid  the  foundations  of  tho  earth  ?  Inform  me 
if  thou  hast  knoAvn  intelligently.  5.  Who  laid  the  measures 
of  it — for  thou  Avilt  know ;  or  who  stretched  the  builder's 
line  upon  it?  6.  Upon  Avhat  were  its  massive  foundations 
sunken,  or  Avho  laid  its  corner-stone,  7.  AVhen  the  morning 
stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy? 
8.  And  then  he  hedged  in  the  sea  Avith  double  doors  Avhen 
in  its  breaking  forth,  it  issuedj^s  from  a  Avomb :  9.  When  I 
made  the  cloud  its  garment,  and  thick  clouds  its  swaddling- 


292  CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

bands ;  10.  And  then  I  assigned  my  bounds  to  it,  and  set 
bars  and  doors;  11.  And  said — So  far  thou  mayest  come, 
but  no  farther,  and  here  let  there  be  a  stand  in  the  pride  of 
thy  waves. 

12.  Since  thy  days  hast  thou  commanded  the  morning  and 
made  the  day-dawn  know  its  phice,  13.  That  it  might  grasp 
the  corners  of  the  earth  and  the  wicked  be^haken  out  of  it 
through  fear?  14.  Then  the  earth  is  changed  [in  appear- 
ance] as  clay  under  the  signet-ring;  things  stand  forth  in 
their  beauty  as  a  garment.  15.  Their  own  light  is  with- 
holden  from  the  wicked,  and  their  high  arm  of  power  is 
broken. 

16.  Hast  thou  been  down  to  the  springs  of  the  sea  and 
traversed  the  unexplored  bottom  of  the  deep?  17.  Have 
the  gates  of  Death  been  opened  to  thee,  and  hast  thou  seen 
the  gates  of  the  Shadow  of  Death?  18.  Has  thy  knowledge 
reached  even  to  the  breadth  of  the  earth?  Declare  if  thou 
hast  known  it  all.  19.  Where  is  the  way  to  the  dwelling- 
place  of  light;  and  darkness — where  is  its  home?  20.  For 
thou  wilt  take  it  to  its  bounds  and  thou  wilt  command  the 
paths  to  its  house!  21.  Surely  thou  hast  known,  for  thou 
wast  then  already  born,  and  the  number  of  thy  days  is  great! 
22.  Hast  thou  been  to  the  treasure-houses  of  snow  and  seen 
the  treasure-houses  of  hail,  23.  Which  I  have  held  in 
reserve  for  the  time  of  trouble — for  the  day  of  battle  and 
Avar?  21.  Where  is  the  way  to  the  point  whence  light  is 
apportioned  and  the  east  wind  scattered  over  the  earth  ? 
25.  Who  has  cut  the  water-courses  for  the  great  rain  and 
the  way  for  the  thunder's  flash  ?  26.  To  make  rain  fall  on 
lands  where  there  is  no  man  and  on  the  desert  in  which  no 
man  dwells;  27.  To  satisfy  soils  most  sterile  and  barren 
and  to  start  fresh  herbage  into  growth. 

28.  Has  the  rain  a  father?  or  who  has  begotten  the 
drops  of  dew  ?  29.  Out  of  whose  womb  came  forth  the  ice? 
and  the  hoar-frost  of  heaven — who  hath  gendered  it?  30. 
The  waters  are  hidden  as  in  stone  and  the  face  of  the  deep 
coheres. 

31.  Dost  thou  bind  the  bands  of  the  Pleiades,  or  unbind 
the  girdle  of  Orion  ?  32.  Dost  thou  bring  forward  the  stars 
of  the  Zodiac  each  in  his  time?  and  the  Great  Bear  with  his 
sons,  dost  thou  lead  on  ?  33.  Dost  thou  even  understand 
the  ordinances  of  the  heavens?  Dost  thou  appoint  the  do- 
minion of  each  one  in  the  ear|ja  ?  34.  Dost  thou  lift  up  thy 
voice  of  command  to  the  clouds,  and  abundance  of  waters 


CHAPTEE   XXXIX.  293 

shall  cover  thee?  35.  Dost  thou  send  forth  the  lightnings 
that  they  shall  go  and  shall  say  to  thee,  Here  we  are  ? 

86.  Who  has  put  wisdom  within  [man],  or  who  has  given 
intelligence  to  the  mind?  37.  Who  shall  number  the  clouds 
in  Avisdom,  and  who  shall  turn  up  to  empty  the  bottles  of 
heaven,  38.  When  the  dust  has  thickened  to  a  solid  mass 
and  the  clods  adhere  together  ? 

39.  Wilt  thou  hunt  the  prey  for  the  lion,  or  fill  the  appe- 
tite of  the  young  lions,  40.  While  the  latter  lie  in  their 
dens  and  the  former  lurk  in  concealment  for  their  prey?  41. 
Who  provideth  for  the  raven  his  food?  When  his  young 
cry  unto  God,  they  wander  for  lack  of  food. 


<.0V®i0-c — 

CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

The  Address  of  the  Lord  continued. 

1.  Dost  thou  know  the  time  when  the  goats  of  the  rock 
bring  forth?  Dost  thou  watch  over  the  bringing  forth  of 
the  hinds?  2.  Dost  thou  determine  the  months  they  fulfill 
and  know  the  time  of  their  giving  birth  ?  3.  They  bow 
themselves:  they  are  delivered  of  their  young;  they  soon 
dismiss  their  pains.  4.  Their  young  mature  early;  they 
grow  up  in  the  open  country;  they  go  forth  and  return  not 
to  them. 

5.  AVho  hath  sent  forth  the  wild  ass  free?  Who  hath 
loosed  the  bands  of  the  wild  ass?  6.  Whose  house  I  have 
made  the  wilderness  and  the  sterile  regions  his  dwelling- 
place.  7.  He  scorns  the  noises  of  the  city ;  he  will  not  hear 
[patiently]  the  cries  of  the  driver.  8.  The  range  of  the 
mountains  is  his  pasture-ground ;  he  searches  after  all  green 
herbs. 

9.  Will  the  wild  ox  be  willing  to  serve  thee  ?  Will  he 
spend  the  night  at  thy  crib?  10.  Wilt  thou  bind  the  wild 
ox  with  his  bands  in  the  furrow?  Will  he  harrow  the  valleys 
after  thee  ?  11.  Wilt  thou  trust  him  because  his  strength  is 
great  ?  Wilt  thou  leave  to  him  thy  labors?  12.  Wilt  thou 
believe  him  that  he  will  bring  home  thy  seed  and  gather  it 
to  thy  threshing-floor? 

13.  The  wing  of  the  ostrich  waves  proudly — but  are  his 
wings  and  pinions  pious  [like  the  aflfectionate  stork]  ?     14. 


294  CHAPTEE   XL. 

[Nay]  for  she  leaves  her  eggs  on  the  earth  and  lets  them  be 
warmed  on  the  sand;  15.  And  forgets  that  some  foot  may 
press  on  them  or  .beast  of  tlie  field  crush  them.  16.  She  is 
hard  of  heart  toward  her  young  as  if  not  her  own.  Tliat  her 
birth-labor  should  be  for  nought,  she  has  no  fear:  17.  For 
God  has  made  her  forget  wisdom,  nor  has  he  imparted  to  her 
[the  usual]  understanding.  18.  What  time  she  strikes  out 
her  Avings  on  high,  she  laughs  at  the  horse  and  his  rider. 

19.  Hast  tliou  given  to  the  war-horse  his  strength?  Dost 
thou  clothe  his  neck  with  terror  ?  20.  Wilt  thou  make  him 
afraid  as  the  grasshop^^er  ?  The  glory  of  his  snorting  is 
terrible.  21.  He  paws  in  the  valley  and  rejoices  in  his 
might;  he  moves  on  [proudly]  to  the  shock  of  arms.  22. 
He  mocks  at  fear  and  is  never  daunted,  nor  turns  he  back 
from  the  face  of  the  sword,  23.  Nor  when  the  arrow  rattles 
upon  him,  or  the  glittering  spear  and  javalin.  24.  Restless  and 
leaping  he  swallows  the  ground  and  will  not  believe  it  the 
voice  of  the  trumpet.  25.  Oft  as  the  war-trump  sounds,  he 
calls  out  Aha!  He  snuffs  the  battle  from  far — the  thunder 
of  the  captains  and  the  shouting. 

26.  Is  it  of  thy  wisdom  that  the  hawk  takes  his  flight  and 
spreads  his  Avings  for  the  south  ?  27.  Is  it  at  thy  command 
that  the  eagle  soars  aloft  and  makes  his  nest  on  high  ?  28. 
That  he  makes  the  lofty  rock  his  home  and  lodging-place, 
even  the  crags  of  the  rock  and  the  stronghold  ?  29.  Thence 
he  descries  his  food ;  his  eye  will  pierce  afar.  30.  His  young 
gorg6  themselves  with  blood ;  where  tlie  slain  lie,  there  is  he. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

The  Lord  resumes  his  address  to  Job. 

1.  Again  the  Lord  answered  Job  and  said,  2.  Shall  a 
reprover  really  contend  with  the  Almighty  ?  He  who  cen- 
sures God,  let  him  answer  for  it! 

3.  Tlien  Job  answered  the  Lord  and  said,  4.  Behold, 
I  am  vile  ;  what  shall  I  answer  thee  ?  I  put  my  hand  upon 
my  mouth.  5.  Once  have  I  spoken,  but  I  will  not  answer 
'again  ;  twice,  but  I  will  add  no  more. 

6,  Then  the  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind  and 


CHAPTER     XLI,  295 

said — 7.  Gird  now  thy  loins  as  a  mighty  man  :  I  will  de- 
mand of  thee,  and  inform  thou  me. 

8.  Wilt  thou  indeed  annul  my  right  [to  reign]  ?  "Wilt 
thou  condemn  me  that  thou  mayest  justify  thyself?  9.  Is 
thine  arm  like  God's  ?  Canst  thou  thunder  with  a  voice  like 
his  ?  10.  Put  on  now  thy  majesty  and  grandeur ;  array 
thyself  in  glory  and  beauty  ;  11.  Cast  abroad  the  outpour- 
ings of  thy  wrath ;  look  down  on  every  proud  one  and  bring 
him  low !  12.  Look  down  on  every  proud  one  and  make 
him  bow,  and  tread  down  the  wicked  where  they  are.  13. 
Hide  them  in  the  dust  together ;  shroud  their  faces  in  dark- 
ness !  14.  Then  will  I  confess  to  thy  praise  that  thine  own 
right  arm  will  bring  thee  salvation. 

15.  Behold  now  behemoth  [the  river-ox]  Avhom  I  made 
together  with  thee;  he  eats  grass  as  the  herds.  16.  Behold 
now,  his  strength  is  in  his  loins,  and  his  force  in  the  sinews 
of  his  belly.  17.  He  bends  his  tail  as  a  cedar  ;  the  muscles 
of  his  thighs  interlace  together.  18.  His  bones  are  tubes  of 
brass  ;  his  bones  are  as  forged  bars  of  iron.  19.  He  is  chief 
of  the  ways  of  God  ;  his  Maker  gave  him  his  sword.  20. 
For  the  mountains  supply  to  him  their  products,  and  all  the 
beasts  of  the  field  play  there.  21.  He  lies  down  under  the 
lotus  leaves,  in  the  covert  of  reeds  and  rushes.  22.  The 
lotus  leaves  cover  him  with  their  shade;  the  willows  of 
the  brook  are  twined  about  him.  23.  Lo  a  great  river  may 
rush  down  proudly  upon  him  ;  he  will  not  tremble  ;  he  Avill 
be  fearless  though  Jordan  burst  forth  at  his  very  mouth.  24. 
Before  his  eyes,  he  [the  hunter]  will  take  him  ;  he  Avill  pierce 
through  his  nose  with  hooks. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

The  speech  of  the  Lord  contimies. 

1.  But  canst  thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  a  hook?  Canst 
thou  press  down  his  tongue  with  a  cord  ?  2.  Canst  thou  put 
a  rush-cord  in  his  nostrils  and  bore  his  jaw  with  a  hook  ?  3. 
Will  he  make  many  supplications  to  thee  and  speak  to  thee 
with  soft  words?  4.  Will  he  make  a  covenant  with  thee, 
and  wilt  thou  take  him  for  a  servant  for  ever?  5.  Wilt  thou 
play  with  him  as  with  the  little  birds  and  bind  him  for  thy 


296  CHAPTER     XLI. 

maidens  ?  6.  Shall  hunting  parties  dig  a  pit  for  him  and 
then  divide  him  among  the  merchants?  7.  Wilt  thou  fill 
his  skin  with  javelins  and  his  head  with  fish-spears  ?  8.  Put 
thine  hand  upon  him  ;  remember  the  battle  ;  try  it  not  again  ! 

9.  Lo,  the  hope  of  taking  him  will  prove  vain  ;  shall  not 
one  be  cast  down  at  even  the  sight  of  him  ?  10.  There  is 
not  a  man  so  daring  as  to  rouse  him  up.  Who  then  shall 
take  his  stand  against  me? 

11.^  Who  has  first  given  ought  to  me  that  I  should  be 
holden  to  repay  him  ?  Under  the  whole  heaven  it  [all]  is 
mine. 

12.  I  will  not  pass  in  silence  his  limbs,  his  renowned 
strength  ;  the  beauty  of  his  attire.  13.  Who  has  taken  off 
hii  outer  covering  [of  scales]  ?  Who  has  entered  within  his 
double  jaws  ?  14.  Who  shall  open  the  doors  of  his  mouth  ? 
His  teeth  round  about  are  terrible.  15.  His  strong  shields 
are  a  splendor,  shut  together  with  a  close  seal.  16.  Each  to 
each  is  so  near  that  a  breath  of  air  can  not  pass  between. 
17.  Each  one  cleaves  fast  to  his  brother;  they  clasp  each 
other  and  will  not  be  sundered.  18.  With  his  sneezings, 
light  streams  forth,  and  his  eyes  are  as  the  eyelids  of  the  morn- 
ing. 19.  Burning  lamps  seem  to  walk  forth  from  his  mouth  ; 
sparks  of  fire  make  their  escape.  20.  From  his  nostrils  there 
goeth  smoke  as  from  a  pot  or  caldron  over  a  blown  fire.  21. 
His  breath  kindles  coals  ;  a  flame  goes  forth  from  his  mouth. 
22.  In  his  neck  abides  strength ;  terror  dances  with  fear  be- 
fore him.  23.  Even  the  hanging  flaps  of  his  flesh  cleave  close 
together ;  firm  are  they  upon  him  and  will  not  be  moved. 
24.  His  heart  is  firm  as  a  stone  ;  yea,  firm  as  the  nether  mill- 
stone. 25.  AVhen  he  arouses  himself,  mighty  men  are  afraid  ; 
terror-stricken,  they  lose  their  way  in  flight.  26.  The  sword 
that  assails  him  shall  not  stand,  nor  the  spear,  the  dart,  or 
the  coat  of  mail.  27.  He  accounts  iron  as  straw  and  brass 
as  rotten  wood.  28.  No  arrows  shall  make  him  flee;  for 
him,  sling-stones  turn  to  stubble.  29.  The  bludgeon  he 
thinks  of  as  straw ;  he  laughs  at  the  shaking  of  the  speai-. 
30.  Under  him  are  sharp  points  as  of  potsherd;  like  a 
threshing-sledge  they  spread  their  traces  on  the  mire.  81. 
He  makes  the  great  deep  boil  like  a  pot ;  he  makes  the  sea 
as  a  pot  of  ointment.  32.  He  leaves  a  glistening  path  be- 
hind him  ;  one  might  think  the  deep  were  hoary.  33.  Upon 
the  earth  there  is  none  like  him — made  to  have  no  fear.  34. 
He  looks  down  upon  all  the  lofty;  he  is  king  over  all  the 
sons  of  pride. 


CHAPTER   XLII.  297 

CHAPTER    XLII. 

The  conclusion. 

1.  Then  Job  answered  the  Lord  and  said,  2.  I  know 
thou  hast  all  power  and  no  purpose  of  thine  can  be  hindered. 
3.  Who  is  this  that  darkens  counsel  with  his  folly?  for  I 
have  set  forth  things  I  understood  not — things  too  wonderful 
for  me,  and  I  could  not  know  them.  4.  Hear,  I  pray  thee, 
and  let  me  speak ;  I  will  ask  of  thee,  and  teach  thou  me.  5. 
I  have  heard  about  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear;  but  now 
mine  eye  seeth  thee;  6.  Therefore  I  abhor  myself  and  re- 
pent in  dust  and  ashes. 

7.  Now  after  the  Lord  had  spoken  these  words  to  Job,  the 
Lord  said  to  Eliphaz  the  Temanite; — My  wrath  is  kindled 
against  thee  and  agaiust  thy  two  friends,  because  ye  have  not 
spoken  concerning  ine  the  right  thing,  as  my  servant  Job  has. 
8.  Therefore  take  ye  now  for  yourselves  seven  btillocks  and 
seven  rams,  and  go  to  my  servant  Job,  and  offer  a  burnt- 
offering  in  your  own  behalf,  and  my  servant  Job  will  pray 
for  you,  for  him  will  I  accept,  lest  I  deal  with  you  according 
to  your  folly ;  for  ye  have  not  spoken  concerning  me  the  right 
thing,  as  my  servant  Job  has. 

9.  Then  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  and  Bildad  the  Shuhite 
and  Zophar  the  Naaraathite  went  and  did  as  the  Lord  had 
said  to  them,  and  the  Lord  accepted  Job.  10.  Then  the 
Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job  when  he  prayed  for  his 
friends,  and  the  Lord  gave  Job  twice  as  much  of  all  as  he 
had  before.  11.  Then  there  came  to  him  all  his  brethren 
and  sisters  and  all  who  had  known  him  before,  and  they  ate 
bread  with  him  in  his  house,  and  they  bemoaned  and  com- 
forted him  on  account  of  all  the  afflictions  which  the  Lord 
had  brought  upon  him  ;  and  they  each  gave  him  one  kesita, 
and  each  an  ear-ring  of  •gold. 

12.  And  the  Lord  blessed  the  latter  years  of  Job  more 
than  the  earlier ;  for  he  had  fourteen  thousand  sheep,  and  six 
thousand  camels,  and  one  thousand  yoke  of  oxen,  and  one 
thousand  she-asses.  13.  He  had  also  seven  sons  and  three 
daughters.  14.  He  called  the  name  of  the  first  Jemima; 
the  name  of  the  second,  Kezia ;  and  the  name  of  the  third, 
Keren-happuch.     15.  And  no  women  Avere  found  in  all  the 


298  CHAPTER   XLII. 

land  so  fair  as  the  daughters  of  Job;  and  their  father  gave 
them  inheritance  among  their  brethren.  16.  After  this  Job 
lived  one  hundred  and  forty  years,  and  saw  his  sons  and  his 
sons'  sons,  four  generations.  17.  Then  Job  'died,  being  old 
and  full  of  days. 


CowLES's  Notes  on  the  Old  Testament 


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By   Rev.    HENRY  COWLES,   D.   D. 


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snlts  of  much  research,  and  elucid.ate  the  text  of  sacred  Scripture  with  admirable 
fiToe  and  simplicity.  The  learned  professor,  h.iving  devoted  many  years  to  VLm 
close  and  devout  study  of  the  Bible,  seems  to  have  become  thoroughly  fumibhed 
with  all  needful  materials  to  produce  a  useful  and  trustworthy  commentary." 

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"There  is,  within  my  knowledge,  no  other  work  on  the  same  portions  of  the 
Bible,  corabininfT  so  much  of  the  results  of  accurate  scholarship  with  bo  lauch  com- 
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From  Rev.  Dr.  S.  Wolcott,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
"  The  author,  who  ranks  as  a  scholar  with  the  most  eminent  graduates  of  Tale 
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tongues,  and  the  fruits  of  careful  and  independent  research  appear  in  this  work. 
With  sound  scholarship  the  writer  combines  the  unction  of  deep  religious  expo- 
llence,  an  earnest  love  of  the  truth,  with  a  remarkable  freedom  from  all  fancit\il 
epoculation,  a  candid  judgment,  and  the  fiiculty  of  expressing  his  thoughts  cleailj- 
and  forcibly." 

From  President  E.  B.  Fairfield,  of  ITillsdale  College. 
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aae  lon^  been  felt.  For  various  reasons,  the  ^vritinnrs  of  the  prophets  have  const* 
Rlted  a  sealed  book  to  a  largo  part  of  the  ministry  as  well  as  most  of  the  comniou 
people.  They  aie  not  sufficif-ntly  understood  to  make  them  appreciated.  Youi 
Lribf  notcH  relieve  them  of  all  their  waut  of  interest  tc  common  readers.  I  tl)lu6 
pen  lave  bUd  iubt  taioDKli." 


COWLES'  NOTES-Continued. 


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r 


\ 


BS1415.C875 

The  book  of  Job  :  with  notes,  critical, 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00042  7171 


